Response Plod

Cops Behaving Badly

2011-11-01T22:35:00.006Z

This was the title of last nights BBC Panorama programme which in its description was:

"What happens when the police fail in their sworn duty to protect life, when they get it wrong, or when police officers themselves break the law?"

Less than a week after the deaths of two officers and one stabbed all in the course of carrying out their sworn duties to protect life, the BBC chose to show this, poorly timed, political hack of the police in this country.

If this week's topic had instead been about "Sudden Deaths at Home" the BBC would have probably moved the schedule, as done in the past, to another more appropriate time in the future so as not to upset the family of for example, Sir Jimmy Saville.

However, they chose instead to run with this programme, in my opinion, in poor taste and sensationalist ways.

I clearly stated my displeasure about this subject on Twitter last night and one or two of the responses I'll highlight here:

TheloniusBostik T-Bos

@citizensmitt never! let's face it. you can't even highlight bad practice without offending the good cops... sad.

TheloniusBostik T-Bos

@ResponsePlod we have the right to know. we're mature enough to form studied opinions.

citizensmitt smitty

@ResponsePlod @TheloniusBostik So what would be a 'respectful' time to have shown it, then?

I appreciate this feedback and it's difficult to try and express yourself in 140 characters or less which is why I'm glad I have this.

I understand completely that the Police have to be accountable for their actions, period. How can we provide reassurance and law and order but be above it ourselves, it doesn't work.

What I was stating is that the programme was poorly timed at best. If they insisted on showing this programme it could have been aired in the new year to let the dust settle for the families of the deceased.

These families could have seen on prime time television, footage of members of public, quite rightly in some instances, stating that they have lost confidence in policing and that officers are lazy etc.

Not true in the cases of PC Goodlad, PC Jay and Garda Jones. These three put themselves first, before anything else and two paid with their lives. Less than a week later, the BBC is showing footage of completely the opposite.

Good police officers do not make good television. Watching grainy footage of a police officer apparently "beating" a male is shock factor and therefore, apparently, does.

The programme then went on to state that there was an issue of complaints and discipline going on "behind closed doors"

What public interest is there to hear that PC Bloggs has not ironed his shirt again or PC Doe has sworn at her Sergeant?

There isn't,

... or is it only the "juicy" stuff they want?

No other public domain company/service does it including the BBC, and I'm damn sure the Houses of Parliament will not!

A Twitter colleague wrote last night "Police officers don't go to work to do wrong"

Unfortunately there are a minority element, like all jobs, who have the bullies, who are rude to their colleagues or customers, lazy, incompetent.

The problem with the police service is that if someone is like this, then they leave themselves wide open for complaints or severe lack of judgement calls that could cause someone to be injured or worse.

Discipline in policing has gone completely wrong, it's too "pink and fluffy"

If a Sergeant gives an officer an old fashioned "bollocking" for cocking up, that Sergeant is suddenly accused of bullying and the problem isn't solved. Problems fester and a lazy cop, or worse, an incompetent cop isn't dealt with quickly enough.

Then you have the issue of malicious complaints. In many cases some throw a complaint back, in order to "get off" or damage reputations to muddy the water in court.

The system is not infallible. Whilst you have humans as police officers and politicians in power, there will always be mistakes. The IPCC and the court system are not perfect. You only have to look at former PC Michael Bunting to realise that terrible mistakes can be caused by so called "professional people" Michael found himself serving four months after kicking out at his attackers whilst they brutally assaulted him and put him in hospital, seriously injured. This case went before the IPCC, the CPS and the courts yet he was still convicted of assault.

In my opinion, last night's topic was a political attack on the police, designed to damage feeling towards us. What with the cuts to the police set to be drastic, what better way of sweeping arbitration hearings under the carpets with sympathy destroying topics like that. (Which, ironically are a week away)

You only had to watch the Twitter trend for #Panorama for the immediate lack of sympathy and hate of the police. Many stating "ACAB" (All Coppers Are Bastards) and yet they will be the first to scream for 999 if they are themselves attacked.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

2011-10-28T22:46:00.000+01:00

This week has seen the loss of two officers whilst on the front line helping those in need.

PC Mark Goodlad of West Yorkshire Police and Garda Ciaran Jones of Garda Síochána County Wicklow.

PC Goodlad was struck by a lorry on the M1 Motorway after he stopped to assist a stranded female motorist who had broken down on the hard shoulder.

Garda Jones, whilst off duty and in some of the worst conditions in living history, left his car to warn drivers that a bridge near his home was about to collapse. He was washed away in the flood water and believed to have drowned.

These two officers without a second thought for their own safety, went to the assistance of those in need. Something that takes place every day with every police officer around the world.

Is this bravery? I would say, no, it's the job that we do and is an everyday occurrence.

However, to be killed doing it brings home the very dangers that us officers face day by day.

Yes, soldiers face danger day by day, but with all due respect to them, if you sign for the Armed Forces you don't join to study the flora and fauna.

What angers me, is the total lack of media coverage for these two officers.

These two officers represent the majority of officers world wide. Those that join the job, serve, committed, professional and want to go home safe at the end of every tour.

However, the media chose to focus their attention on a Met PC call handler who "inappropriately handled emergency calls"

Whilst I agree that, yes, this does require attention, but to have on the tv full interviews with the IPCC and only give brief coverage of the two officers was simply not on.

It seems to me that lately the media only want to concentrate on the bad side of the police.

The riots, what we did wrong, the student protests, the sit in at St Pauls, Dale Farm etc, all concentrate on the "lack of police response" rather than, "the police finding themselves the targets once again"

Every day, an officer does something that can save or change a life. Do we hear about it? No of course not, it would become tedious as after all, if you speak to any police officer they will say the same thing:

"I was only doing my job"

However, it is about time that the media and government stop getting into bed with each other and realise that police officers are human. We have lives, we have feelings and if you push us we will break.

But we will always continue to serve

... even if we have to pay the ultimate sacrifice

Dining Out

2011-09-25T00:19:00.001+01:00

I know I've mentioned this topic before so for those who are aware of it please excuse me whilst I rant about this once again but what happened to me and a colleague today needs saying because it wound me up.

My mate and I were taking refs away from our home station and thought we would take in a local cafe which came recommended.

We were sat towards the rear of the cafe but thanks to the fact that it was situated on a corner and quite a large premises we were still visible from the street but only if you looked.

Half way through our meal I glanced up to notice that people were actually stopping to look at us through the window. Some were pointing and telling people they were with to look at us while we ate. This continued for most of the meal.

Then out of no where, a woman walked past, looked in, saw us and took her phone out of her bag and started to take photos of us while we ate.

We certainly didn't smile for the photos and judging by our facial expressions and waving her away, her friends may wonder why she took photos of us if she shows them.

I was too gobsmacked to interupt my food, get up, walk the length of the cafe and go and speak to her but she knows we werent happy, yet continued to photograph us.

After paying up and leaving to return to duty it was almost like the pub scene from An American Werewolf in London, suddenly everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

I said to one gawper "I take it you haven't seen policemen eat before."

One turned and said "It's alright for some!" so I turned and replied

"Yes, it certainly is, I mean, you are out in your own free time with your family and can eat anytime you like, whilst my family are at home without me. So it is alright for some isn't it?!"

The reply will go with me to my grave:

"What a waste of tax payers money!"

Well, dear reader, I can safely say that I went off on one after that. I was polite but extremely firm informing him that in future he should mind his own business and to keep ill educated comments like that to himself. I pointed out that I am not a robot, I need food and assuming he works, he probably has breaks too.

I frequently leave half eaten meals to race off to calls and then attempt to reheat them later or eat cold. Thanks to my job, I double on food expenses as I either have to take something in which I've had to buy extra or order out. I frequently end up with indigestion and have lately suffered with high cholesterol.

What amazes me is the complete and utter disregard for the fact that under this uniform is a living, breathing human.

How would they like it if I sat and gawped at them through a restaurant window? Took photos and dare say to them that they shouldn't be eating.

Will the photos taken of us appear in the paper with the headline:

"Police skive whilst tax money goes on food"

or

"Police integrate with the community" ?

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It Would Never Have Happened To Smeaton...

2011-08-15T23:11:00.001+01:00

So, after I posted a blog entry entitled "The Blame Game" exactly what do we blame for the causation of the Summer riots of 2011?

The 'original cause', the death of Mark Duggan has been significantly over shadowed by the riots which took an even uglier turn with the death of six people across the country and the destruction of peoples homes and businesses.

Tariq Jahan eloquently, wisely and whilst still grieving for the death of his Son called on everyone for peace. The Duggan family also told the nation that they condemned the riots and did not want them carried out in his name.

So, what caused them?

These riots were going to take place no matter what. An antiques dealer in Tottenham started to receive telephone calls about a week before they took place, asking if he wanted "protection should anything happen" This would suggest to me that this was going to happen even if Mark Duggan wasn't fatally shot that August day. This death was merely a catalyst for events that were going to happen, like it or not.

So where do we start this "Post Mortem" of the events that took place. What caused this Cancer that spread very quickly across this great city and then the country that I love?

It is very easy and quick to blame the police. The police would have received the blame whether Duggan lived or died, the fact that there was an illegal firearm, fully loaded in the vehicle he was in, keeps escaping people.

Here in lies the problem.

The 24 hour news companies were quick to film people on the street hearing that the "police don't respect us" or "the police here don't do nothing to help us" and "the police are always harassing us"

Well, in my opinion, respect is earned. I hear this a lot in my job "Don't DISS ME" "You need to show me respect"

Funny how quick those who have none for other people are quick to expect it shown to themselves.

"You're only stopping me because I'm black"

No, it's because I saw you slip a knife under your jog top, or you blew through that red light with no care for anyone else and you have no insurance, MOT etc but, no, lets blame it on the fact you're black being the reason I stopped you and not because you committed a crime.

"If you touch me, I'm going to sue you"

Thank you America! This is another thing I hear regularly. Including my Mother In Law who is an English teacher. Some of the story's she tells me, I would quite happily take a machine gun to her pupils. [edit due to complaints on Twitter: This does not mean I will do this literally! For God's sake get real people! If I meant every time I said to my brother I was going to kill him, I would still be slopping out at Parkhurst!]

My own 11 year old Godson said something similar to his mother the other day when she said to him "You're not too old to get a slap"

The fact he meant what he said shows how damaging our culture has become over the years with discipline.

Our 3 year old daughter was kicking off the other day and my wife said to her "I will count to five and if you don't stop I will slap the back of your legs"

The look of disgust she got from a woman who overheard, speaks volumes, in my opinion of the interference from outside agencies in just simple discipline.

I'm in no way condoning violence towards children but I believe, children need to be taught from an early age that every thing in life has a consequence.

It is my belief that there are too many groups these days who leap out and attack the ways of parenting and even criminalising parents who have smacked their children when the real abusers slip through the net.

Then we have the schools. In my day I would get the cane. I got it twice and never again after that I can tell you. The mere fact that it was on the wall on a plinth above the Head meant it was destined for your hand after the talk was over. I respected my teachers and in actual fact, I still speak to one on Facebook who sent me for the cane.

Now we have pupils fighting against teachers, parents who, instead of trying to find out why their little darling set fire to the chemistry lab, want to blame it on the teacher for daring to give their son or daughter a detention for throwing things at another pupil. In some cases, teachers have actually been attacked by parents for showing discipline to their children.

My Mother In Law will not walk down the road of her village or to our house in case one of her pupils sees her. She's had her house egged and her windows smashed by her own pupils many times.

However, if my Father in law got hold of one of them, he would be the one arrested.

How wrong, is that?

We have football players who think it's ok to have multiple affairs, to commit numerous criminal offences and be seen to be rewarded with multi million pound contracts.

These people are supposed to be role models.

Gangsta Rap which tells their listeners to kill one another for daring to live in another post code or come from another class.

Single parent mothers who claim they cannot control their child as they have to work every day and that the council took away the local youth club.

"They're bored"

Well, I grew up in East London, right where they are building the Olympics. We had miners strikes, Cold War, recessions, 3 day working week. We didn't have iPods, Nintendo's, X-Box, PS3's etc. The latest thing I wanted was a set of clackers which you could bounce faster and faster then lose your knuckles in a blinding flash!

We went out in groups on bikes. Budgies, Boxers, Strikers, Choppers and Grifters being the fad in those days and we played cricket with a bat made out of floor board and a tennis ball.

We would disappear for hours with our parents safe in the knowledge that we would come back in one piece and with what we went out with.

These days the youth are taught that if you want something, take it. Kids are bombarded with images of the latest tech and if you don't have it, you're a target in the playground and even the classroom.

We are a society that is quick to take, quick to throw away and quick to blame someone else for your own wrong doings.

I learnt very quickly when I was young that everything has a consequence.

I got into trouble when I was about 11 and my Dad informed me that I would come home from school, do my homework and I would not watch TV for a week. For me, this was a disaster, early evening TV was a must. I knew that if I timed it right, I could watch the tele and turn it off just before my Dad got home from work.

My Dad got home, walked to the TV, put his hand on the back, felt the warm glow and then I felt the warm glow of that hand as it connected with my backside.

I didn't do that again, I can assure you.

I was grounded. My Dad then saw me frantically riding home on my bike with my mates as he crossed the park walking back from the local Underground station.

I learned then too.

I was always told that if I ever brought the police home or got into trouble at school I would suffer the consequences.

Imagine my horror when the local bobby, a big bearded fellow, followed my friends and I to the garages behind my mates house as we collected his bike!

"What's going on 'ere then? Breaking into garages I see!"

Cue frantic explanations that we were just innocent lads getting my mates bike from his Dads garage.

"Let's just check this lock here then"

Praying that Tony had actually locked the garage and what on earth my Dad would say if he heard I was taken down the local nick even though I was innocent.

I feared the police, but respected and even admired them all the same. I called him "Sir" and I meant that too. These days I get no respect.

Nowadays it's "See that man, he's the one who will take you away when you're naughty"

Or in one case: "See that son, it's a pig"

The police were a "force" not a "service". If you got on the wrong end of the police you would expect a clip round the ear and taking home to your parents where you would receive a belting for not only breaking the law but bringing the "Old Bill" round the house!

These days, if a police officer lays a finger on someone it's on the news in seconds, filmed on mobiles and shown on You Tube.

Police officers fear striking back for losing their jobs, their homes, or worse, be imprisoned.

So what is to blame for these riots?

Well in my opinion I would say it's a combination of ill discipline starting with parents, schools which results on a lack of respect for those around.

The "I want it now" and "I'll just take it" culture caused by the mass media marketing strategy from everything from a pair of new trainers to the latest car. The "upgrades" which means people have to have the latest and you can include football kit.

We didn't have a lot when I was a kid. Mum only started to work again when we went to school full time so Dad had to pull in a lot of hours. We got by, but we were well taught that if we wanted something, we had to earn it.

We had to make do and live with it.

What's the solution?

If I knew the answer to that I wouldn't be in this job, I would be earning a fortune on the lecture circuit.

But it's my belief that if we allowed teachers to regain the classroom without fear of reprisals, parents to take some responsibility in their offspring instead of expecting others to do their work for them, the police to become a "Police Force" again instead of a "service" doing Social Services job for them and take away the mindless amounts of red tape and the ready critical media we have. Stop this blame culture, the ambulance chasing solicitors who immediately say

"Where there's blame, there's a claim"

If we get this little bit sorted, perhaps, just perhaps, the world may be a better place.

The Blame Game

2011-08-08T21:33:00.001+01:00

First Tottenham, now Hackney, Lewisham, Catford and reports of disorder in East Ham, Ilford, Barking, Birmingham and Leeds.

The Home Secretary Theresa May pays tribute to the "brave police officers" but makes no reference about how she is going to assist officers with solving this problem.

All we heard was typical government rhetoric and political avoidance of direct questions.

Earlier on the BBC I heard a young woman on scene at Tottenham who stated that it was:

"Justified to loot as the government had fiddled expenses, the banks had bankrupted the country and the police were taking back handers"

From where I was sat it appears that yet another person live on television had decided that the blame lay firmly at someone else's door, and not theirs.

I've heard the police are blamed, I've heard the government are blamed, the local councils, rival gangs, everyone blamed for who is the cause, the catalyst of this rather than those who are picking up the bricks and bottles themselves.

This is the society we live in.

The blame culture.

Blame everyone else for the situation you are in rather than taking responsibility for your own actions and taking stock of your own life.

The latest apparent reason for this riot in Hackney is because a black male was searched. A crowd took umbrage and the officers were surrounded. It all went off from there on.

Excuses, excuses.

These people were organising this before this search even took place. They just wanted someone to blame in order to "justify" starting it.

Again, we are hearing "the police are racist" as they dared to stop a black male and search him. "It has been building over the last 20 years" said one male to Sky earlier this evening. "The Brixton riots started with overbearing policing and now this."

Well, because of the "overbearing" policing the Police And Criminal Evidence Act was brought in to sort this out.

An officer needs to justify and have a reason, unless a Section 60 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 has been put in place in an area which gives police the right to search people in a defined area at a specific time when they believe, with good reason, that: there is the possibility of serious violence; or that a person is carrying a dangerous object or offensive weapon; or that an incident involving serious violence has taken place and a dangerous instrument or offensive weapon used in the incident is being carried in the locality.

This law has to be authorised by a senior officer and is used mainly to tackle football hooliganism and gang fights.

What these mindless thugs are doing are destroying communities. Destroying communities that have worked hard to get where they are now.

They are destroying the very fabric and ripping out the heart of where they live.

They have destroyed homes, belongings, work places and put people, their own neighbours into school halls and shelters to sleep and possibly will make more homeless as private businesses are destroyed and livelihoods are ruined.

The repercussions of this will stretch far and wide.

Just like the football violence of the past, it has denied us hosting World Cups and other major events.

This will have major effects on tourism.

Al Qaeda don’t have to do anything to us. We are destroying ourselves. They will be sitting there and laughing at us as our way of life crumbles. Our monetary system has collapsed and the streets are over run with thugs.

How do we sort this matter out?

Therein lies the Sixty Four Thousand Dollar Question.

I would like to see this Government stand up and be counted for once. Stop pussy footing about and let the police do the job we were employed to do.

Stop the pathetic form filling for every time we look at someone, give us the tools, and we will give you the results.

I want to see a Met Commissioner and a Home Secretary have the balls to say:

“Deploy the water cannon, deploy the baton rounds, deploy tear gas”

Stop letting the “Human Rights” of these thugs get in the way of finishing this.

What about the Human Rights of those innocents effected by this? and including this I mean the police officers too who will no doubt have family and friends worried sick about them at this time as they are pushed to the limit physically and mentally.

The government have reacted too slow over this. The officers on the front line are tired, over run, stretched to breaking point and low in morale.

This is only going to get worse.

The public need to wake up and smell the coffee.

If the police cannot sort this out now due to low numbers, criticism by the public, media and government interference in tactics. When these 20% cuts bite you will hardly see any officers out there to deal with this.

The Neighbourhood Policing Teams will be decimated through these cut backs and could potentially cause more of these scenes in London and other cities and towns.

These NP Teams have created massive links to the local community.

Lose these and you will lose them.

Well, You're Damned If You Do......

2011-08-07T12:15:00.008+01:00

So Mark Duggan, a man in his own Obituary picture shown on national news is posing using what appears to be his fingers shaped like a gun looking like gang signs is pulled over by armed police in a taxi and during an altercation a shoot out takes place resulting in one officer shot and Duggan fatally wounded.

What we saw last night was according to one "witness" on the BBC "The locals taking revenge for the killing of a brother" and "The Police don't police our community they only turn up when this happens"

Memories of The Broadwater Farm riots in 1985 where many of the rioters were not even born or too young to remember were being tossed about by "witnesses" being interviewed on TV. "This memory is in our DNA where Cynthia Jarrett died after police broke into her home" said one representing the "Youth of Haringey" "We may have not been there but it's passed down to us"

Cynthia Jarrett dying is in no way even the same as Duggan dying and comparing the two is an insult to Cynthia's memory.

People on tv last night were calling Duggan "Their Brother" and even they said they didn't even know him.

Duggan lived by the sword and by the looks of it, died by it. He allegedly shot at officers and therefore was shot at in defence and was killed.

Some bright spark witness on Sky was complaining that Duggan didn't have the safety equipment that the armed police officers had and therefore it was unfair and a reporter on Sky even had the gall to say "We don't know who shot at who first"

There are internet rumours going round that someone who knows someone spoke to someone who saw someone see a 16 year old girl allegedly beaten with sticks by police for no apparent reason. What angers me more is depending on who you believe is that this was used as a "reason" for a full scale riot in Tottenham last night.

There was a protest about the killing of Duggan and the way the area is policed and this was presented to the doors of the Tottenham police station. For whatever reason after that, it went down hill from there on.

Then a police car with two officers was hijacked and pushed into the road and set alight. This was then a beacon for others to start violent disorder.

The police were then lambasted by locals and the media for not policing the riot properly and their tactics used. Some complained that the police were only targeting black rioters and some even complained that the police were too soft.

Damned if we do and damned if we don't.

What angers me more through all of this, is the two faced cheek of the government and media. Suddenly to the government we have their "full support" and "no justification for the aggression shown to the police" with the media it was the complete lack of support and the cutting off of anyone who dared to voice support to the police coming under attack.

The media completely ignored the fact that Duggan shot at officers, completely ignored the fact the innocent bystanders were caught up in the riot, and that the reason police let the bus and buildings burn is because it was unsafe for the London Fire Brigade to go in and put it out.

The government talk about the "aggression shown to police" but fail to realise the irony of their aggression shown to police with the cut backs to the front line and to the police pensions and pay which are about to take place. The "thin blue line" is so thinly stretched it's fracturing at points and last night was a case in point. I think you can expect more of this to come.

What the government and public fail to realise is that Public Order trained officers and others like myself with specialist skills in areas including firearms are all volunteers. We get no extra money and certainly thanks to Hutton, Windsor and May we won't be getting any more for a few years.

We can just as easily turn our passes in as easy as we got them. If I don't want to be a Public Order trained officer any more I can turn in my certificate. Just as easy if I don't want to do CBRN or Search. I can easily fail to sign up for the next refresher or fail the fitness test.

If this carries on with the front line being savaged by the government and public alike I can see many officers ditching their specialist training.

Why should we face a barrage of petrol bombs and rocks whilst the ones that govern us and take away our rights, pensions and wages are sleeping soundly in their beds?

I can see many officers failing to come in when off duty, the sounds of unanswered ringing phones deafening. The number of mobiles that suddenly had no signal.

We don't get paid a call out fee, so why should we come in?

One Inspector said to me that you could face disciplinary action if you are on a call out list. Well, prove my phone had no signal, prove my phone rang at my home and not at the exchange.

We have enough restrictions on our lives as it is without placing me under virtual house arrest in case another riot takes place.

It's about time that the government realised that last night is a taste of things to come.

Mess with our tactics, mess with our numbers, budgets and wages and this is what you get.

A lot of innocent people cleaning up after a night of disorder and many officers injured.

What I will say is that it's going to make the Notting Hill Carnival an interesting two days.

Haven't you got anything else better to do?

2011-08-04T20:48:00.000+01:00

As much as I moan about my job and the political goings on in the background I do generally love being a policeman.

One thing that always amazes me is that over the years the same questions and statements arise time and time again from members of the public who whilst in conversation either bring them up or actually ask them as the main reason for stopping you.

Here are the answers to the questions to save you asking me next time you see me and in some cases are actually what I really want to say next time I'm asked:

How can I get to the most obscure and insignificant named street the complete other side of London?

I don't know. Simple really. You're standing outside a W H Smith try buying an A-Z. I am not a black cab driver and I've never done the knowledge. So why would I know where this street is approx 10 miles in the other direction, way off my patch?

But I thought you policemen knew every where in London?

Refer back to my original answer. As I stated, I'm not a cab driver. Do you know where every single street is in your city?

I've got this map and I need to get here (pointing to location) from where we are now (again pointing to location) How do I do that?

Follow your finger along the line! No, Seriously?! You have a map, shown me where we are on it, shown me where you want to go on it and yet you want me to show you how to get there.

(After showing them how to get there) No, that's not right, I would go this way.

Then why ask me in the first place? You have the map, use it!

Why do policemen always have their hands inside the stab vests?

Because it's considered rude and unprofessional to have my hands in my pockets and I need some where to rest my hands. It's also because I'm bored of this conversation and these stupid questions.

I'm going to ask you about the most obscure piece of legislation known to man and then moan because you don't know the answer to it.

I'm not a legal expert. I've had training in the law, yes and I've an A-Level in Law but I don't know the law about it being illegal for a lady to eat chocolate on a conveyance. If you want the answer to your question either seek a solicitor or better still, research the internet.

What time does this shop close?

So I look like I work for Tesco now? I must have not noticed that the average Tesco worker carries cuffs, baton, spray, wears a stab vest and a hat which has sign clearly saying "Police" written on it. I guess it must get a little fraught at Customer Services with all these customers asking stupid questions! You must have walked past exactly the same sign as me on the way in and as it's 3am I'm guessing it's open all night.

Do you think you should be eating that?

Well, no actually, I was going to use it to throw at speeding motorists to make them think they've hit someone. I tell you what, I'll take a look inside your basket and start asking why it is you only have "Meals for One"

Shouldn't you be in the doughnut aisle?

I think you are confusing us with the American Police. If this was a kebab van, then you've got me. Stop watching all those films and thinking it's real life.

You can't talk to me like that!

But you think it' perfectly acceptable to talk to me like that and not expect anything back. Listen. You've been tugged for a perfectly good reason. You decide to trap off and call me every thing under the sun and because I tell you to wind your neck in and shut your mouth, suddenly I'm the one being rude.

Can a pregnant woman wee in your helmet?

I've been asked this one about a thousand times. Truthfully I don't know but why on earth would anyone want to do that when they've probably walked past so many toilets, pubs, cafes, restaurants and bushes is beyond me.

Do you get many people asking to take your photo.

Well, it's dipped to only about five hundred today. Yesterday was well over seven hundred by the time I booked off.

You can't stop me, I know my rights.

Once again, my friend, you seem to be mistaking us from our cousins across the pond. I have a reason to stop you, and I have grounds therefore I am detaining you for this search and or stopping your vehicle as I suspect you've committed an offence.

This shop won't give me a refund. I want you to go in and arrest them.

I cannot help you I'm afraid. However, I suggest you write to customer services. They have their own internal department that can arrest any person found guilty of holding onto a dumb arse customers money who think that a policeman can help them get a refund for returning a worn pair of pants.

Haven't you got anything else better to do?

Actually I have better things to do, I'm just not doing them right now.

Enough to put you off your public service!

A Load Of Old Bails

2011-07-05T22:42:00.009+01:00

As if the policing world wasn't mad enough with the cut backs, pensions and pay disputes, along comes the Justice System who are supposed to be working with us, not against us and sticks one on the police service just after it's been left reeling with blows from the government.

The short sighted, self interpreted and may I say, bigoted definition of The Bail Act and PACE by a Salford District Judge who took a perfectly good system and then threw it in the bin was then backed up by the High Court.

Today's ruling left yet another bitter pill to swallow when the Supreme Court dismissed an attempt by Police to suspend a legal ruling limiting Police Bail in England and Wales to a maximum of four days only.

MP's are voting on an emergency legislation this Thursday to attempt to put things right.

What this idiot of a DJ has done has taken the law and because he can, use his interpretation and change a piece of legislation.

What this has done to the police has caused utter chaos.

A colleague of mine who works on big fraud cases has said to me that they will find most of their cases collapsing due to constantly having to re-arrest someone.

For example. What used to happen was, the person was arrested for fraud, then taken to the police station, interviewed. Mean while their documents, computers, etc would be seized to be investigated into. Then this person would be "freed" on police bail but their items kept for investigation. This person would then return at a later date after more evidence has been gathered where they will either be charged or released without charge.

Now what happens is after the person has been interviewed they must be bailed to within 24hrs of their time of release. This DJ has stated that the custody clock keeps running so you only have in the first instance 24 hours to deal and maybe with extensions up to 96 hours.

That's four days to look into a major fraud case

If after those four days nothing further is found then this person must be either charged or released with no further action.

Problem here, is if someone has been effectively "NFA" as nothing has been found at this stage to charge, then technically all their property must be returned to them and with it, goes any possible evidence. The police will have no right to hold onto it as they have been released without charge.

The second further evidence crops up, this person can be re-arrested.

However, how many times will someone need to be arrested to finally bring a charge?

How long will it take before some smart arse Barrister to suggest that their client was "stressed" "embarrassed" and "harassed" by the police and the officers dealing were in breach of process and or their clients Human Rights because they were arrested "too many times"?

How big will arrest rates soar yet charge rates for serious crimes fall drastically?

That's the big cases what about "simple" cases like a theft from a shop. The person is brought in but is deemed unfit to interview as he is drunk. The suspect when eventually sober has now asked for a solicitor who takes time to arrive due to heavy traffic and dealing with other clients. The CCTV cannot be obtained then eventually when interviewed the suspect gives an alibi which cannot be chased up due to the person not answering their phone and your shift is drawing to a close and you need to hand over.

This person now needs to be bailed, but because of the new ruling, there may not be any time left on the clock as because, I stated above, the custody clock now continues to run. So, if this person has been in custody overnight sleeping off the drink and has been in for 16 hours you can only bail them for 8 hours.

That's later that day and you still need to chase up that CCTV and the alibi statement.

What with every other job police officers have to do these days, how can they complete a thorough investigation within the given time slot?

A short time ago, Ken Clarke reversed his decision on halving prison sentences.

I think he got his wish in a roundabout way, as there will be no one charged to court any more to be sentenced to prison.

Call me a conspiracy theorist but it all seems too convenient to me.

Prove me wrong on Thursday, MP's when you vote against this stupid ruling and impose the emergency legislation.

Also I think the DJ needs to be shown how a night in custody works or out on patrol.

He may feel differently from our side of the fence.

.....Who am I kidding?!

In Sickness And In Health

2011-06-21T22:06:00.000+01:00

I've not been a well Response Plod these past couple of days. I won't disgust you with the exact details but needless to say Essex and Suffolk Water want to speak to me urgently.

I was sent home yesterday after feeling and looking like (apparently) "death warmed up" however, it took them half the shift to decide that I was no good to them and if I was in for half then it doesn't count as a sick day.

What annoys me most about that is I had spent since 4am not feeling at all well but decided to go in for many reasons:
1. I don't like calling in sick because
2. No one ever believes you so
3. You go in to prove you're ill but
4. Everyone moans at you for bringing it in and no one thanks you for actually making the effort but
5. You only went in so it wouldn't count as a sick day if you got sent home.

What angered me however, is today, I had to take a rest day in lieu rather than phone in sick. Why is it that the job has made us so scared of phoning in sick when we are genuinely ill? Why is it that I face the wrath of the part one sickness warnings if I dare have one day of sick then God forbid I'm ill at a later date?

I can understand the need for some sort of sickness monitoring. There are many officers out there, some I know personally, took the piss out of the sickness policy and played it to their advantage on the old scheme. However, people who are really ill are having to tread the lines carefully because if they have a 24 hour bug one day and then Lord help them, flu a couple of months later then the policy enforced could mean they can kiss good buy to that course they wanted or that vacancy they dreamed of.

We Officers face enough stress in our lives as it is. Our long and hard shifts dealing with all kinds of incidents leaves the body weak and open to illness. That's not including close contact with people who are also ill.

I also know that the stage one policy is discretionary but I also know that there are many Inspectors out there who have their power trips and like to bring down hard justice on their troops.

Troopers like me for instance. Some years ago, I injured my arm very badly in a fight during an arrest that went horribly wrong. My right arm was left hanging from its socket and the muscles and tendons severely damaged. I was off for three months and returned on heavily restricted duties. Months of physio and to this day, it's still not right. This didn't stop my, then, Inspector collaring me on my first day back for a chat in his office.

There I was thinking he was bringing me in for an "how are you, great to have you back" chat, but no, on the desk was a stage one warning and he was putting me on it knowing this was going to severely damage my chances of the course I wanted to be on. I point blank refused to sign the document and got the Federation involved who thankfully after many and some heated meetings it went away.

The policy was re-written soon after.

If you are ill, you are ill but why do we have to be frightened of someone who has no policing skills whatsoever who writes these policies and enforces them upon us?

The problem we now face, is that they are using any excuse to cut costs and if you are a sickly officer.

...be looking over your shoulder

Police Crime and 999

2011-06-19T23:36:00.001+01:00

Written by John Donoghue, It’s a look at a year in his life as a front line response officer, comes with the warning: CONTAINS HUMOUR AND TRACES OF NUTS and, amongst other things, answers those basic questions:

What REALLY happens behind the scenes in the police?

What bizarre 999 calls are made to the emergency services?

Why can wearing 2 pairs of socks make you a suspect?

What is the link between police and vampires?

Which Royal arrest never made news headlines?

What covert sign do officers make when they no longer wish to talk to you?

He's changed names and places to protect the guilty!

The book isn’t officially available until August, but it is available NOW for all readers of this blog via his website www.policecrime999.com and John has kindly given us a 10% discount!

Quote: ResponsePlodBlog when ordering for your 10% Discount!

The Greasy Pole

2011-06-10T21:12:00.000+01:00

When I joined the job all those years ago, I had ambitions that I would go far.

The two major problems I have that stopped me is that I failed the Part 1 Ospre, twice, although by a small margin but a miss is as good as a mile.

Secondly, I don't know when to shut up. I will openly state to Senior Officers that something is not right when it blatantly is not right.

Putting it bluntly, I'm a coppers copper. I don't take crap from anyone and I enjoy working on the factory floor getting my hands dirty.

However, I have massive respect for my Senior Officers. I may not like some of them but I respect them nonetheless. I know that they have made it through the ranks and have stood where I stood and have seen what I have seen.

This gives me faith in the people in charge that they, ultimately, know what they are doing.

They can safely make the big decisions at murder scenes, fatalities, major incidents etc. because they have been to these incidents themselves over the years and have built up a wealth of experience and knowledge as they progressed through the ranks.

Which amazes me that the "Flagship" police force of the country, The Metropolitan Police, is toying with the idea of "Rank Skipping"

It amazes me that at a time of budget cuts and restraints that are going to affect every rank and file officer that they want to insult the officers even more.

How can anyone who has served from a recruit, only 12 months as a PC and given intense training then fast tracked to Inspector in another 12 months then expect to become a good copper earning the respect from others "below" ?

How can I trust an officer with only 2 years "police service" much of it class room based to come out as an Inspector then make the right decisions at incidents?

This officer would have had no experience in policing what so ever and just because they may have some fancy degree in policing or been a manager for a large company, why would that mean they would be good coppers?

If you or I were to go to a company like Hovis and apply to become "senior baker" (hypothetically) they would not even give your application a second glance if you have never baked a loaf of bread before!

I still cannot see you being taken seriously if you then went on to add that you spent 12 months reading cook books and occasionally kneaded some dough.

The bakers around them would lose respect for their immediate supervisor as they would expect, when a problem arose that the senior baker would know what to do, due to their valuable experience gained in the ranks below with years of bread making at their finger tips.

The person may know how to manage people effectively and may actually be great at managing budgets but dealing with the real stuff that comes to policing, well, it's not enough to just have read some books on it once.

I really hope that the Met decide against this little venture. It's going to be a huge waste of money to train these officers to be Inspectors and have them fall at the first hurdle.

Some may crack under the strain of being thrown in charge of a murder scene as they have not built on the experience of same or similar incidents before.

It will be a shame to see these people ridiculed by their own and the public when they find out they only have a couple of years in and they are supposed to be in charge.

What about the officers who are making their way up the traditional way, only to see some whipper snapper who was in charge of DFS last year suddenly take the promotion over them?

What if, the Commissioner was suddenly ousted by someone who was once in charge of Lloyds TSB?

Would he like it?

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Sucking Eggs

2011-06-03T22:57:00.002+01:00

After reading the excellent article in Police Review w/e 3rd June 2011 by Hollie Clemence entitled “Officers urged to ‘look and feel’ cheerful” she reports that ACPO is drafting an Olympic 'Look and Feel' strategy document which they claim will provide a 'consistent message' on how officers on mutual aid during the games are maintaining the 'highest of standards'.

Summarising, it is basically telling officers working during the Olympics how to dress, how to talk and even to remember to smile.

ACPO have also stated that every officer must be trained in the fine art of egg sucking and will be trained to NVQ level although cut backs mean that you will need to provide your own eggs during the 12 week course.

Alright, I made that last bit up, but really, are they serious?!

First of all, exactly how much money are they wasting on this ridiculous and quite frankly insulting report?

Secondly, just exactly who do ACPO think they are?

Not only are they insulting the very officers their thousands of pounds trained and the vast majority have years of experience but instead of backing us up with the ongoing dispute with the government they are basically telling us to just “grin and bear it”

What with the Winsor Report pay and conditions biting into its first year by the time the Olympics come along many officers working the long tiring hours are not going to be wanted to told to “smile and be nice”

What ACPO need to realise is that police officers will continue to do the job we were employed for. It's the job we joined for and want to do.

So please, don't insult our professionalism. We don't need to be told how to dress and how to smile. We do this every day and don't need expensive reports to be reminded how to do it.

What I will ask is for you to declare how much this farce of a report cost and why the money wasn't better used for something more worthwhile, or better still, saved.

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Your Attention Please!

2011-05-31T21:57:00.000+01:00

This blog entry is the email I received this morning and it brings me no joy to post this tonight for you all but it needs saying. This is from DC Simon Steele the Chairman of the Constables Branch Board and serves with Sussex Police. This message needs to be sent far and wide people so, copy, paste and send to all your colleagues! Even send a copy to your local MP.

Dear Colleagues,

For those of you that are not aware The Police Federation held their Annual Conference in Bournemouth between the 16^th and 19^th May 2011.

I don’t apologise for the length of this document. You have a right to know all that has happened over the past week. Please read it in its entirety. YOURS and YOUR COLLEAGUES FUTURE are at stake and we need your support. Please feel free to forward this email internally to all of your colleagues. Now more than ever we need to stand as one.

This report is intended to update you on all the relevant points and issues that were discussed last week. It will also give you an insight as to what the Federation are doing to protect your pay and conditions.

Firstly let me make this abundantly clear, the next twelve to eighteen months are going to be the most financially challenging period that you will have faced in your lifetime. This is not scaremongery, this is not spin this is FACT. You will not like what I am about to say and you need to prepare for the tough months that follow.

On Monday I attended the Eve of Conference Meeting.

The Olympics.

The key dates for policing the London Olympics next year are 1^st May 2012 to 16^th September 2012. The opening ceremony will be on 26^th July 2012.

Policing of the Olympic Torch Run will be conducted on a regional basis with mutual aid provided where necessary.

Each Force has been told of its Olympic Commitments in respect of Officer Number’s and specialist skills. (Apparently).

PFEW has issued guidance to Chief Officers suggesting they set an overall 7% restriction on leave during the Olympic period. Individuals with caring responsibilities should be given priority when leave is allocated at peak periods. Further support has been requested in terms of approaching schools regarding removing children classes during term time.

The more specialist the role you perform, the more likely you WILL be subject to restrictions on taking leave during the Olympic period.

The PFEW will support a minimum of doubling of the normal carry over allowance without prior approval i.e. 10 days or 80 hours. (I guess in

Sussex

’s case doubling nothing leaves nothing but I would hope a degree of flexibility will be offered and I will update you when a decision is taken).

The mutual aid pattern will be:

Day 1 Travel to Accommodation Venue,

Days 2 - 6 deployed on an 8 hour tour of duty with a minimum mandatory 4 hours overtime period (12 hour day)

Day 7 return to Force area.

It will then be down to each individual Force to manage returned officers rest days.

Two main accommodation sites have been identified. The vast majority will be housed at Hatfield University in Hertfordshire (subject to on going contractual negotiations).

The main accommodation for mutual aid to Dorset is a mobile home park on the outskirts of Weymouth.

Onto the gloomy bit!

The Economic Outlook.

To say that the economic outlook is gloomy is somewhat of an understatement.

We are now 18 months out of the longest recession since 1930. It has been the deepest recession since World War 2.

It lasted 1.5 years through six quarters. (Quarter 2 - 2008 through to Quarter 3 - 2009).

The cumulative loss in national income and output over this period amounted to 6.4%.

The economy has been stagnant for the last 6 months. It fell back 0.5 % in the final quarter of last year and this 0.5% loss was recovered in the first quarter of this year.

The economy is predicted to grow slowly this year and next year.

Inflation will be high and running ahead of pay. There will be severe cuts in expenditure and investment will remain weak.

The government are pinning their hopes on strong growth in exports but the truth is the gap is still growing.

The labour market is weak with unemployment standing around 8%.

Given the weak economic recovery it is likely that employment will start to rise again soon.

In the 20 years up to 2006/7 public spending averaged about 40% of GDP. Government receipts also averaged around the 40% of GDP mark.

HOWEVER in 2009/10 spending increased to 48% of GDP and receipts totalled 37% of GDP resulting in the government borrowing 11% of GDP to make up the shortfall. This is known as the Public Borrowing Requirement (PBR). In 2009/10 this stood at 11%.

The Government debt (Accumulated PBR) stood at 71.3% of GDP in 2010.

In the June 2010 budget government announced their intentions to raise 113 billion pounds to combat the government’s debt deficit. 29 billion from tax increases and 84 billion in expenditure cuts. This includes 18 million (11 million initially) in benefits cuts and 63 billion in spending cuts.

Cuts in departmental budgets (other than health and overseas aid) amounts to a 19% cut in real terms over 4 years. 2011 to 2015. (Labours planned cuts would have amounted to 12% in real terms).

Police funding is to reduce by 14% by 2014/15 in real terms.

Central government funding is to reduce by 20%.

In real terms the reduction will be greater than 20% as the governments Inflation assumptions are unrealistic and too low.

The cuts are concentrated on the first two years so over the next 18 months we are all going to start to feel the pain.

These savings are going to be achieved by a saving in back office functions, modernising pay and conditions (Winsor Review), an increase in pension contributions (Hutton Review) and by reducing Police Numbers.

Effects of the Winsor Review Part 1. (REMEMBER THESE ARE PROPOSALS AND HAVE NOT YET BEEN IMPLEMENTED)

Abolish incremental Pay Progression from September 2011.

This will affect 55 - 60% of Constables.

On completion of training Constables will lose two increments amounting to a loss in wages of £3,186.

Don’t forget that you will lose the first increment in both years 1 and 2 meaning the cumulative loss will be £4,695 over the two years.

Pay Point 5 will result in a loss of £1,671 and a cumulative loss of £2,556.

This one recommendation will generate savings of £250 million over the next two years.

The abolition of CRTP will mean that 35 - 40% of Constables will lose £1,212 of pensionable pay saving 145 million over 2 years.

The abolition of SPP will affect 43% of Constables with an average payment in 2010 of £1203 and will affect savings of £175 million.

The reduction in casual overtime from time and a third to plain time will result in 82% losing a further £422 from your pay packets.

Replacing double time with time and a half for working rostered rest days will affect 65% of you with an average loss of £273.

The introduction of an interim Expertise and Professional Accreditation Allowance will benefit only 33% of you and amounts to £1200.(Non Pensionable).

The On Call allowance of £15 for each session beyond 12. (The downside to this is that The Chief Constable could instruct every single officer in the Force to provide 12 periods of on call cover during the course of the year without it costing the Force a single penny.)

Tow Winsor estimates that if implemented his recommendations will save the government 485 million.

You will not get a pay rise either this September or next September as a result of the Public Sector Pay Freeze. We are told that “We are all in this together” and yet the private sector experienced the pay freeze during the recession and at a time when inflation was in the negative so effectively real pay for the private sector rose. The pay freeze in the private sector lasted for one year and NOT two. Subsequent pay awards have made up some of the lost ground.

We are about to experience our pay freeze at a time of high inflation. The Bank of England predicts inflation at 6% for the remainder of this year and 4% for next year. The BoE persistently under estimate these figures so the likelihood is that these figures may in fact be worse than predicted.

Increased pension contributions are extremely likely with 3% rises recommended.

There is a likely reduction in real disposable income in excess of 10% over the next two years. For an officer earning £35,000 a year this equates to a reduction in pay of around £3,500 . (I did say you wouldn’t like what I had to say).

Unemployment is likely to increase due to the fragile state of the economy and there will be an increase in numbers looking for jobs due to welfare cuts.

A final word of warning, if you haven’t got the message yet - The next two years are going to be very, very tough and you need to start budgeting now for this difficult period.

A recent Federation survey revealed the following: From over 42,000 police officers who responded to the online survey, a 98 per cent said that morale has fallen owing to planned police budget cuts, the possibility of a reduction in police officer numbers, possible changes to terms and conditions. Meanwhile, 86 per cent of police officers believe cutting police officer numbers will have a detrimental effect on crime levels. As a result of the reduction in police officer numbers 78 per cent of respondents believe their workload has already increased or will increase in the future and 91 per cent of police officers believe there will be a decline in service delivery due to planned budget cuts.

At the Constables Central Conference the chair Julie Nesbitt called on the Home Secretary to reject the proposals to freeze incremental pay and scrap the CRTP. She accused the government of being dishonest when they say cuts are needed to protect officer numbers. She also accused ACPO of attempting to become more powerful than it is today.

Policing Minister Nick Herbert attended conference on Tuesday and was attacked from all sides. He was asked by one delegate “If crime goes up as a result of a reduction in Police Numbers will you tender your resignation”. Like almost every other question he was posed he failed to answer it satisfactorily. He appears to hide behind refusing to answer “hypothetical questions” as he uttered the same response when asked if he would make the findings of any future arbitration panel binding, as his party had promised whilst in opposition.

Chairman of the Sergeants committee John Giblin asked “Is it not too late to call off your pack of hounds, return them to their kennels and do the right thing before others cry havoc, and let loose their dogs of war”.

Mr Herbert defended the governments decision to spend billions of pounds on foreign aid stating the money was “saving lives” across the world.

It is clear that those in the Home Office do not wish to listen to officers concerns. There appears little willingness to engage on their part and both Nick Herbert and Theresa May avoided the many difficult questions that were posed of them. It will be particularly difficult to influence a government that has thus far shown no desire to listen and they are using the public debt to legitimise their actions.

The highlights of Conference week for me were the key note speeches by our Chairman Paul McKeever and Home Secretary Theresa May.

Paul McKeever gave a quite brilliant speech in which he systematically dismantled the Home Secretary. For 40 minutes he spoke without notes, without auto cue and he did not let the Home Secretary off the hook for one minute. I have copied a link below which you can cut and paste into your browser and see the contents of his speech in its entirety. I would strongly urge you to read it especially if you care about your future.

http://www.polfed.org/Paul_McKeever_conference_speech_2011.pdf

Mid way through the speech he switched to a recorded video message from David Rathband the PC who was shot by Raol Moat. He told the Home Secretary how much he earnt last year (£35,000) before posing the question “Do you think I’m worth it - Home Secretary).

Our Chairman accused her of being absent without leave at a time when Liam Fox had been fighting and winning to get the cuts in the defence budget lowered .Theresa May did not fight our corner and remained silent.

Paul McKeever received a three minute standing ovation following his speech and the Home Secretary took the floor to complete silence, endured complete silence throughout her speech before leaving the stage to complete silence. She was left in no uncertain terms how angry the rank and file officers are with her and her government.

If you wish to see the Home Secretary’s response you can find it on the Federation website. Its fair to say she came out fighting, all guns blazing and like another famous Conservative female it is abundantly clear that this Lady is also “Not for turning”. We have a fight on our hands to protect our rights, our pay and conditions and it is vitally important that we all stick together over the coming months.

Ian Rennie our General Secretary and Chief Negotiator on the Police Negotiating Board also addressed conference and started by attacking the absence of ACPO Chief Sir Hugh Orde who was otherwise engaged in Canada. He was also critical of Tom Winsor who also declined an invitation to attend conference and explain his proposals for reform of the Police Service.

He emphasised that the Winsor recommendations would have a negative effect on female officers and “could make them an endangered species in policing”.

Mr Rennie highlighted the fact that the removal of CRTP would result in officers being £800 a year worse off in their retirement. Mr Rennie reiterated that Windsor’s report contains little or no evidence to support recommendations. Mr Rennie was further critical of ACPO and damned them for expecting us to pay an annual fee as a membership subscription at the same time that they supporting a reduction in our pay and conditions. He called for ACPO to stand up and support those people they purport to lead.

The phrase “More for less” has crept into the Police Service recently and Mr Rennie highlighted the point that the only thing that you get for less is in fact “LESS”.

He too called for a Royal Commission in Policing, a theme that was repeated throughout the week but apparently falling on deaf ears.

On Thursday we held our annual general meeting and two significant motions were passed at conference.

The first has instructed the Joint Central Committee to write a letter to ACPO stating that the PFEW have no confidence in them to act in the interests of British Policing. As you are no doubt aware ACPO have remained silent of late and appear reluctant to stand at our side in protecting our pay and conditions.

Secondly a motion was proposed to deal with the issues of lawful orders and the motion instructed the JCC to seek changes in this regulation so that the words Lawful Order are replaced by the words Reasonable Request. The motion also calls for the right to challenge such decisions at an employment tribunal.

The Treasurer Martyn Mordecai reported a further welcome drop in expenditure and he assured Conference that he intends to continue to drive costs down further. He has reported that there is no need to increase Federation Subscriptions next year which in this current climate should be applauded.

On a personal note I thought that it was a hugely successful week. It was exactly the response I was looking for from the Federation. Mr McKeever was undoubtedly the star of the show. The delegates that attended Conference were challenging and forthright in their views and have left both the Home Secretary and Police Minister in no uncertain terms how angry we are about this unprecedented attack on the Police Service. Paul McKeever has shown to me in this past week that he has started the fight back to protect our futures and the future of The Police Service. He has shown to me that he is up for the fight and we now place our trust in Ian Rennie as our chief negotiator of the PNB to secure the best deal that he possibly can at the negotiating table.

Negotiations of the PNB start in earnest this week and there is a table of meetings scheduled to take place between now and the 26^th July which is the deadline set by the Home Secretary. If no agreement can be reached then a failure to agree motion will be tabled and the matter will be referred to the Arbitration Tribunal for them to decide on the outcome. The Home Secretary will then have two options - accept or reject the proposals. She has the power to impose all of Tom Winsor’s recommendations but she has been put on notice that this would be a particularly dangerous path to follow.

One thing is clear and that is there will be NO winners. We are all going to have to sustain some pain over the coming months.

Prior to Conference Ian Rennie asked you all for a “call for assistance”. We need your support, now more than ever. Please continue to lobby your MP’s. Please continue to call for a Royal Commission in Policing. Please continue to support the fight for fair pay and conditions.

Over the coming months I will continue to keep you updated on developments. If any of you have any ideas as to how you would like to see the Federation respond over the coming months please let me know and I will pass your views on. What would you like to see the Federation in

Sussex

doing over the coming months? We are here to represent you so please give us your views.

If any of you would like to become a Federation Representative then please let me now as we still hold some vacancies.

Ensure that your voice is heard over the coming months and remember one thing “WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER”.

Detective Constable Simon Steele CS597,

Chairman of the Constables Branch Board

Detective Constables Federation Representative

Sussex

Police Federation.

Tourist Information

2011-05-28T01:45:00.001+01:00

A few years ago it took me a while to wonder why on earth there was a large queue forming in front of me with tourist after tourist coming up to me with their SFQ's until I looked around for a sign above my head saying "Tourist Information" and saw that there actually was one.
I got so fed up with it in the end that I moved three feet to the left and one tourist actually asked me:

"What time do you re-open?"

I love tourists and I love playing games with them. I love to strengthen my Cockney accent and watch them struggle to understand as I rattle off directions, especially if I throw in the occasional rhyming slang word here and there.

I love when I can joke with them, Americans usually have the best sense of humour when it comes to tourists and appreciate a good laugh, especially if you're gently taking the piss out of them too!

I cannot count the number of times I've had tears rolling down my eyes with laughter when I've given strange answers to questions like:

"Where's Covent Garden?"

"Just down the road there, but you better hurry as they cut the grass at 2pm"

or

"Where's Buckingham Palace?"

"Down the end of this road but you better be quick as they change the guard at 2pm and it's the public turn to have a go"

or

"Is that the building where they film James Bond?" (pointing out Vauxhall Cross MI6)

"I can't tell you that it's a secret and it's really not actually there, if you look in your A-Z you'll see it don't exist."

I've had some real corkers for questions over the years, some I've forgotten but here are some that'll never go away:

"Sir, what time is the 2pm bus tour?

"Where do I get the bus for the walking tour?"

"Where do I hail a taxi?" (whilst stood in a packed taxi rank)

"Can you tell me where Big Ben is please?" "Yes, it's over my left shoulder"

I have been known to answer with "Sorry, but he's out with Little Pete at the moment"

One American Tourist asked where Big Ben was and when I pointed out it was behind her and she replied

"That's it?! That's more like a pocket watch!"

I asked her if she had any clock towers bigger in the States and she replied:

"Yes, The Statue of Liberty!"

Here are some more

"Where it says 'train tickets' is that where I can get my train ticket?"

also

"Where it says 'Theatre Tickets' can I buy a train ticket from there?"

"My English cousin lives in London, his name is John, do you know him?"

"Can you tell me how to get to London?" "errrr you're already in it" "Yeah, but the part I need to get to"

"Why was Buckingham Palace built next to such a busy road?"

"Is that the same moon we have at home?"

"Who's that on top of Nelson's Column?"

"What kind of money do you use here?" I usually reply with "Monkey bones"

Whilst in Central London "How far is it to walk to the Lake District?"

Pointing to the Union Flag: "Gee that's a neat flag, does it come in other colours?"

"Can you tell me what acts are performing today at Piccadilly Circus and are there real elephants?"

and my personal favourite:

"Can you tell me what time does London close?"

I would love to hear some of yours!

Ain't Misbehavin'

2011-05-18T22:02:00.004+01:00

One thing that really gets me annoyed these days is the way kids are molly coddled and protected when they do wrong.

Take the other day. I had cause to speak to a 14 year old boy who was my height and build (I'm five feet eleven when the wind blows South and consider myself as medium to stocky build)

Here was mouthy, "larging" it up in front of his mates thinking he was clever mouthing off to two coppers who have had a hard time policing quite an intense football match.

He didn't know when to shut up. It was trap trap trap, swear swear swear the whole time. He was told several times to walk away and stop being a twat but no, he continued whilst he mates watched.

After several warnings of his impending doom, he still wouldn't leave or shut up, so enough was enough. I nicked him for section five public order abusive words and behaviour. That's when the fun started. After seeing that now he wasn't going to get home as previously planned he decided to kick off and put up a considerable struggle which resulted in him being taking to the floor (Home Office approved technique of course) and cuffed to the rear.

The ride in the van gave him perspex bravery he continued his tirade of abuse until we arrived at the nick where a welcoming committee soon shut him up the second the van doors were open.

Now remember, I said this lad was 14. This was the sort of behaviour I expected from someone who had been drinking or is an habitual offender.

His parents were too far away to be brought down to act as appropriate adults as they were over 200 miles North of our location and no trains were running South, also, they claimed they didn't have a car (or so they said)

An appropriate adult and Social Services eventually turned up and it transpired in interview and through discussions with his parents over the phone that the lad has ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Why should I not be surprised?!

I'm sorry but it seems to me that every kid I deal with these days has some sort of attention seeking disorder!

Now, I don't know if these disorders are being found more these days because of advances in science and understanding psychology or is it just some excuse that every parent, teacher and Social Services of these kids seem to use to take away the blame for the kids behaviour from themselves and the child.

Instead of tackling the route problem of why this kid is behaving like a prize prick, lets wrap him up in cotton wool and say it's not your fault, you have a disorder and it's someone else's fault, not yours why you're like this.

We will blame society ills for why you've developed this so that way, you won't feel targeted for your wrong doings.

When I was a kid, children like these were given a clip round the ear and told to pack it in and go to bed without their dinner.

You can't do that now as the pink and fluffy left wing group will insist that you assaulted a child and neglected it food.

"He's bored!" is the excuse I usually hear.

"He's completed "Call of Duty Modern Warfare" so he's got nothing else to do so he burned down the garage to see if car petrol tanks really do explode like in the computer game"

"He's just misunderstood!"

The problem lies in the fact that kids do not socialise properly these days, Facebook, Twitter, PSN, X-Box Live, text messaging seem to be the way these kids communicate. They don't talk any more. Humans are meant to talk face to face and get out and about.

The kid next door to me, it is claimed by his parents has ADHD. Now to me, he's a loud foul mouthed little git and he's 9 years old.

I've never seen behaviour like it and hear language so foul from a kid so young.

To hear his parents discipline him is a joke. When he swears, they just call out his name and say "Stop swearing" That is all. So, as no real punishment has been given, he continues. If he's loud, they ask him to be quiet, again, no real threat, he continues.

What is he learning? Nothing apart from he has no boundaries and can get away with what he wants. So does he really have ADHD? Or is he just not being disciplined properly?

Now when he started swearing at my 3 year old daughter and her friends which I overheard, he soon stopped when I told him in Gene Hunt style, that I would step on and smash up all his toys if I ever heard him call my daughter a "fucking cunt" again.

Guess what? He stopped! I told his parents for which I received a grateful apology but shook my head when they said in a soft tone to their son "Oh, I do wish you would stop swearing"

Kids crave and need boundaries, even from an early age they test, test, test and will push you to see how far they can go. You only have to watch my three year old and eight month old daughters to see that.

When they realise they cannot get what they want, they will back down after trying several times to get it. That's where persistence and patience pays off.

Discipline begins at home and then at school but thanks to pressure groups certain powers to discipline have been outlawed or frowned upon. Now, I'm not saying you should beat kids black and blue, never in a million years would I ever condone that. But if you're one of these parents who use the "I'm going to count to five" method. Please have something to punish them at the end of it!

By the way, the lad was given a final warning. I expect a colleague from a constabulary some where up North to be meeting him real soon.

Now, I'm probably going to get slaughtered for saying some of these things but these are my opinions only. If you don't like them, there's the red "X" in the top right corner or feel free to comment as I'm totally open to constructive criticism.

A Close Call

2011-05-03T23:01:00.000+01:00

It's taken me a few days to get back to the swing of writing this blog. I've been out of the loop with a considerable number of things going on with my new house and everything else has fallen by the wayside.

I've been quite busy with work too but nothing to write home about, just all work and no play making me a dull Response Plod.

Then came last Thursday morning. An event which a split second either way could have abruptly altered my life with brutal consequences.

I was travelling back from a night shift after leaving my high speed train from central London behind, I walked to my car in the beautiful 7am sunshine knowing I was going to be off for four days. Everything in the world looked good and tiredness was far behind.

Off I set for the 20 minute drive which takes me through the Dartford Tunnel. Yes, dear readers, I live in the Essex area, I will tell you that much.

For those that know the area, I was approaching Junction 1a which is the last exit before the toll booths to take me from Kent to Essex soil. I was in lane 2 of 4 and ahead in lane 1 were three articulated lorries all close together.

My driver training took over, I held back, checked my off-side and made sure lane 3 was clear in case one of these behemoths attempted to overtake the other.

One pealed off and went up the slip for 1a and I made my approach to the toll booths.

That was when I heard the most awful loud scraping and crashing sound. I turned my radio down and could still hear it, getting louder all the time. I looked right, nothing.

Then I looked left and saw all hell literally breaking loose. One of the articulated lorries had some how jack-knifed and the trailer was tipping its load

....straight into my direction.

Out of my left window all I could see were large, long lengths of metal tumbling towards my car.

Instinct took over, I braked hard and yanked the wheel hard right, confident that I knew nothing was there from my check only seconds before.

The first length of metal crashed down right where I had been a split second earlier and rolled backwards before sliding to a stop. An unfortunate driver behind hitting it.

I turned the wheel again as yet another piece fell and landed right where I should have been.

Thankfully I managed to steer past both pieces. I checked my mirror before I stopped. The carriage way was littered with metal.

I managed to avoid being crushed by a 40 ton load of metal which by rights should have landed on my car.

One split second decision probably saved my life or saved me from serious injury.

Thankfully, more by pure luck, no one was seriously injured. Although the M25 was knackered for the whole day after that.

Normally I'm on autopilot straight after a night shift. Thankfully because the sun was shining it gave me a little boost and I was a tad more alert than usual.

It just goes to show that despite doing a dangerous job, the real danger is in the returning home from work.

We concentrate so hard in not getting hurt whilst at work, especially when driving on blues and twos that we tend to switch off and take a back seat when coming home. We relax and think of what we want to do when we get home and usually after a night shift when we are especially tired, is sleep.

They say your life flashes past you before you're about to die, for me, everything just slowed down. It reminded me of the film, The Matrix.

I got into that car to set off for home and remember every little detail of it, the smells, the glint of the sun on the paintwork which I said I would clean over the weekend (and didn't) I remembered saying "bye" to my colleagues and strolled off confident that I would see them again after my rest days. I remembered the plans my wife and I had with our two young daughters for my days off.

......Who would have thought that just one second could have stopped all of that?

Still Going Strong

2011-04-22T22:28:00.001+01:00

Just a quick update to let you know that I haven't forgotten you all.

I have recently moved house and been a tad busy getting sorted and most importantly trying to find everything that I had easily to hand at my old address.

Talking of which, when do you think is the best time to drop in the conversation with your new neighbour that you're Old Bill?

I haven't told them yet but seeing as I tend to go to work in half blues (it saves times in the locker room and gives me half an hour extra at home!) it won't be long before they cotton on unless they think I'm a security guard at the local Asda (We don't have a Waitrose as we're not that posh!)

The problem with the eventual finding out could end up with the goings on in my previous blog entry, or worse still, the smell of smoke one night and the calling of the "Water Fairies" as I watch my mortgaged investment go up in flames.

Apart from them having kids who are a tad loud they are alright and the old dear the other side is not a threat to knowing what it is that I do.

Also being semi-detached from them helps.

The restrictions on PNC says I cannot check out my new neighbour, however a chat with my Intelligence Bureau may find out some interesting facts. (Assuming there are any)

I'm off now for a few days so hopefully I'll have something interesting to write about when I get back and concentrating on work for a change.

So stay tuned!

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You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties

2011-03-30T16:26:00.001+01:00

It's a funny old game being a copper at times.

It's the only job that when attending parties and meeting people for the first time, I get introduced with my name and career.

"This is Phil, he's a copper"

It happens every time, without fail.

I've never seen any other person in another job introduced in the same way:

"This is Dan, he's a chartered accountant"

Or:

"This is Jim, he's been falsely claiming invalidity benefits for 10 years"

It's the only job I've had where when people find out what you do for a living, they make that wincing look and suck the air through their teeth. Just like a car mechanic does before they say:

"It's gonna cost ya!"

Or when they remember you're a copper, they say:

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're the copper!"

And the minute someone finds out you're a copper, they start to tell you all the problems they've had with police in the past. How much they hate the old bill and how it should be run.

You know, massive sweeping comments, such as, "All coppers are bastards"

Or they ask stupid questions like:

"Why have I not seen a copper down my road for years?"

Or:

"My house was broken into last week, why wasn't you there in five minutes and when you did eventually turn up you did bugger all to catch them!"

My usual response is "Me? I was probably in bed!"

But would they find it offensive when I find out what they do for a living and insult them and their profession?

"Oh, you're a plumber are you? Well, all plumbers are cowboys! Grab your money and run bastards and you never turn up when you say you will!"

Or:

"Oh, you're an accountant, how boring!"

But it's perfectly acceptable to stand there while I'm trying to relax, be it at a party, or on my way home and insult me about what I try to do to make an honest living.

Passing the wincing, air sucking stage, I am usually bombarded with a shed load of questions about the job.

Now, this could mean they are genuinely interested but after the tenth person asking the same questions in the space of one evening, it gets a tad annoying!

"Whats the worse job you've ever dealt with?" (Like I need reminding of it)

"How many people have you arrested?" (and are shocked when I say I don't know)

"Do you take your gun home?" (I don't carry a gun)

"Why do you not carry a gun?" (Because I'm not trained)

"Why are you not trained? I saw a policeman the other day who had one" (I haven't applied for the course, I don't want one and the man you saw with one, has had the course)

"Why do you not want one?" (for numerous personal reasons!)

And the one that usually annoys:

"If I hit you, would you arrest me even though you're off duty?" (I reply with "Try and see")

When you've managed to get past that stage everything you get spoken to about is job based. They expect you to know every sodding law ever passed since the signing of the Magna Carta.

"How many pints am I allowed to tonight?" (Depends)

"Depends on what?"

You can see a trend emerging here can't you?

The favourites spouted by people at parties etc are:

"You can't do that you're a copper!" (I'm just getting another beer for heavens sake!)

And:

"Here he is mate, nick him, he's the one you want!"

Yes, ha bloody ha! Very original!

When they've finished speaking to you they introduce you to another person

"This is Phil, he's a copper"

and as it begins again a little piece of me dies, heard only as a subtle groan.

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Got Your Number!

2011-03-28T20:40:00.001+01:00

I sometimes wonder why I bother to read some reports about policing published in the main stream media, many are bias towards the government and have a tendency to be rather far from the truth or grossly exaggerated.

Do we "kettle" or do we not?

Do we go in hard against violent thugs claiming they are for "democracy" as they smash every thing up and then we face hatred in everything we read?

Or do we go in "soft" and then face hatred in everything we read?

Damned if we do, damned if we don't!

However the amount of utter drivel that can be spouted in the media, some of it is brought to our own doorstep and is our own bloody fault!

Once again (unconfirmed) reports are coming through from a variety of sources stating that some officers on duty on Saturday were not wearing numbers....yet again!

Why? It is clearly regulations that officers on duty, in uniform, with the rank of Sergeant and below, must wear numbers and that includes public order kit.

Now, playing devils advocate here, it could be the reports are wrong.

It could be that the officers involved have had their numbers ripped off. A tactic used by protesters in the past to either anger officers, gain a trophy or to purposely cause the officer not to have any numbers on display then they're open to complaint or discipline. Also poor design on the coveralls mean the epaulettes can easily be ripped off.

It maybe that the officer is so sick and tired of malicious complaints that they have taken them off in order to get on with the job.

Or, it could be that the officer does not want to be accountable for their actions and will use the anonymity to get away with unlawful tactics which if thats the case, makes my blood boil.

I wear and have always worn my numbers. I am accountable for my actions and I am not hiding anything.

If the reason for failure to wear the numbers were for sinister reasons only, then I hope you are found out and disciplined.

I cannot figure out why the Supervisors left it to go unchecked. Then again, in all that was going on, it may have been a tad difficult. However these should have been on the kit and checked before deployment.

It angers and disappoints me because it takes the shine off the hard work that was done by the thousands of officers on duty that day who were there for lawful duties, to protect those demonstrating and the property of those on the route.

It angers me because if it means you were in it for the unlawful tactics then you are no better than those that were trashing the area.

We take enough hits being police officers as it is.

We don't need any more being brought to the public eye by officers I thought were supposed to be colleagues and friends!

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UKUnCut March 26

2011-03-26T23:29:00.001Z

Today I have met some wonderful people. People I would not have thought that my job as hated as it can be at times would have crossed my path or touched me in ways that my job has done before.

I'll be honest with you from the off. I hate policing demos. We always end up the target for hate. A tool of the government to throw bottles and stones at. We get screamed at that we are breaching civil and human rights never mind the fact that they've been throwing missiles at us for hours.

Today, was different in so many ways.

I met people who are in the same boat as us. Facing an uncertain future, facing massive cuts and exploitation by a government that not only are threatening our very existences, have lied to us all.

I met a family with their young Son on the way there who had travelled a hundred or so miles to show their support for everyone of us facing cuts be them doctors, nurses, teachers, fire brigade even Union of boilermakers.

I spoke with them for some time and they thanked us for helping them demonstrate safely and that they know we face an uncertain future but cannot demonstrate with us.

I became worried for them, as I had heard no issues on my radio of trouble but soon as they had gone from sight, the trouble began.

These anarchists can only be described as mindless thugs hell bent on destruction, hijacking any reason just to have a fight.

These people did not represent any of those I saw today. Decent, hard working folk who are concerned not only for their future, but their children's futures and their children's children's future.

To those I did manage to speak to I thanked. I thanked them for demonstrating a worthy and just cause and to prove that us decent hard working people will not just go gently into that good night.

I thanked them because I could not join them. They were our voice today too and they did us proud.

However to those who set out to destroy that message today by destruction.

Shame on you!

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Stand and Deliver!

2011-03-23T22:18:00.000Z

Well, it's Budget day today and we have experienced the usual "Robbing of Peter to pay Paul"

There was a mention of public sector pensions and George Osborne accepts Hutton's review of the pensions contributions.

I guess that means it's going ahead and we're all doomed.

Well, the government are claiming we are living longer and therefore contributions must rise to accommodate the short fall but what with everything else on the increase, inflation, food costs, job loses and fuel rising who would want to live longer?

Oh wait, fuel increase has been frozen. Well hallelujah, we are saved! There was me thinking that we had the most expensive fuel costs on earth and there is Osborne stopping the 1p increase until at least 2012.

The problem is, it's not 1p, it's 1 penny plus VAT and 1 pence above inflation so you will not find your fuel pumps only going up by 1p.

I finally received my letter today from my local MP to whom I wrote with regards to the Winsor and Hutton reports. The letter I received was not impressive. But what do I expect from a Tory fat cat who is probably claiming for two houses and a moat to be regularly maintained whilst her husband sits and watches porn all at our expense (allegedly)

The letter which she could have sent via Twitter,as it was that short, basically stated that Winsor has to find cuts in the police service and during these hard times we all have to take a large bite of the shit sandwich kindly brought to us by those wearing Gordon Gekko braces, drinking coffee somewhere in one of the City's banks.

As for the pensions, well, sorry but once again, we are all having to save and this is the best way (apparently) to make cuts.

I am going to reply in a similar manner and suggest they freeze Parliamentry expenses for MP's for the next 5 years as that will save a fortune in public money being wasted and see how she responds to that.

After all, Ken Clarke was being paid a small fortune today and yet he fell asleep during the Budget. And Yes I can say he did fall asleep and no allegedly too, as it was noticed by Ed Milliband, TV cameras, The Telegraph and bookies who have paid out at 16/1.

If they dock him pay for the length of time he was asleep during PMQ's and Budgets there would be enough to run a hospital for a year.

I ask you, what other career can you be paid and sleep during your shift?

....Ok, who said "Fire Fighter" ? Right, Get out!

This Saturday sees a demonstration in London TUC, Unison etc with regards to the cuts. I bet many of us that are policing it would actually like to be there protesting with them, I know I want to be but I'm having to make sure that Whitehall doesn't end up looking like Tripoli after dark if the idiots who ruined the Student protests turn up again.

So if you are attending, please play nicely people. Get your point across and leave without destroying anything. Remember that there are others who are looking after your demonstration who agree with everything you're demonstrating about. The main differences being, we can't voice it on Saturday and we can't go on strike.

Problem is, with fuel prices soaring, cost of train fares rising beyond a joke etc etc

.....Who's going to be able to afford to actually go?

When I Get Older, Losing My Hair, Many Years From Now....

2011-03-10T13:29:00.000Z

I'll still be working in the Police Force and probably have a blue light attached to my Zimmer Frame or electric cart!

That's assuming I'm still alive of course! Thanks to Lord Hutton there's a good chance that I'll still be chasing after criminals a damn sight younger than me at the age of 60 and to make matters worse, the decent pension I thought I would have received, is a lot smaller than it should have been and I've paid a lot more for it.

Whilst the banks are declaring major profits and bonuses, the suckers that are us public sector workers have taken yet another hit, this time with our nest egg, the pension.

I did not join the Police Force in order to retire early, as stated in a previous blog entry, I joined to help and make a difference. The reason we only tend to do 30 years as a police officer is because of the stress and strains that come with the job.

It used to be an average of 5 years a police officer would live after retirement. Thanks to appropriate support in place that is no longer the case. However, upping our retirement age and taking away our final salary pensions in place for "career average earnings" is probably going to see that death age creep back as retired officers cannot afford to heat their homes or are so burnt out from the job life style that ill health rapidly over takes them.

Hutton basically states because of the rise in life expectancy people are living off of pensions longer and are a drain on resources.

The government have said they are grateful for his work [Hutton's] and will give it careful consideration. Which you and I know means that they will go along blindly with every word he says.

Well, thanks to the government's major cut backs to the funds for the NHS, Armed Forces and Policing we can see that rise in life expectancy being only short lived.

Dave Prentis the general secretary of Unison said:

"This will be just one more attack on innocent public sector workers who are being expected to pay the price of the deficit, while the bankers who caused it continue to enjoy bumper pay and bonuses."

I agree whole heartedly, however, your members can strike, we cannot unless some line in the sand is drawn by the Federation now.

On the talk of strike, the problem with being a police officer and strike is two fold:

One. The public suffers, not those that make the stupid decisions.

Two. Can any officer, honestly say that they could sit there and ignore calls from people who need our help?

Well, there is the Army of course but they're all off fighting a pointless war in a far off land and anyway, those who are stationed here will probably have to cover any Fire Brigade strike because someone woke them up during a night shift.

Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: "This is the great pension's robbery and is completely unacceptable to firefighters across the UK."

So that's that, they'll be out on strike along with everyone else and we'll have to pick up the pieces

He also stated: "Expecting firefighters to work until they are 60 is wrong. Firefighting is a physically arduous job. Peak fitness is essential where seconds can cost lives. The public will not want an ageing frontline fire and rescue service."

What about the Police?

Do we really want to be The REALLY OLD Bill?

A Policeman's Lot Is Not a Happy One

2011-03-10T12:15:00.000Z

Quite apt for what's happening to us lately. More to follow on the Hutton Report later

Feeling The Pinch!

2011-03-08T20:35:00.002Z

Well, today finally came and it's a day where we were hit by people we thought needed us the most.

Tom Winsor, a former rail regulator swung upon the police forces of this country with what can only be described as another "Beeching Axe"

The fact that escapes the members of parliament is that the railways of this country are a disgrace, an under funded shambles run by people who only want a profit and it grinds to a halt come rain, come shine.

And they've let a former regulator of this mess attempt to cull money spending within our force.

...I'll let that sink in for a moment.

I won't bleat on about what Winsor has said and what he has found as it's pointless and been done to death by now and the last thing you want to read is yet another blogger repeating what he's already stated.

What angers me the most through all this, is the media and parliamentary spin that the unsuspecting public who are not in any way connected to the force have had to endure.

We have seen a member of the Green Party come out on TV and state, that it's not fair that we have 30 year pensions completely forgetting the fact that pensions are now for 35 years and have been for a few years now.

I watched in dumbstruck awe, as a retired police officer sat there and stated on TV that he has had times where he has finished "5 minutes into his rest day and claimed 4 hours at double time"

First of all, to that retired officer, Thank you very much for that! You have held onto the handle of the blade this government has taken and helped stab it firmly between our shoulder blades!

You've got your pension, you've secured all your rights and you earned your money so what made you even think to go on National TV and practically pull the rug from under our feet on the very people you served with?

"Pull the ladder up Jack, sod the rest" springs to mind!

Whilst I don't deny that there has been some gross over spending in areas of all forces, don't take it out on the front line for God's sake!

The Barclay's Brothers and their little empire, giving themselves massive pats on the back bonuses whilst all this is going on, adds insult to injury, especially when it was mostly the unregulated banking industry that screwed it for every body!

The fact that we get paid for what is a dangerous job again escapes them. Policing has the highest rate of all occupations for divorce and sickness.

Why?

Simple, long stressful and potentially dangerous hours with the fact that we at the last minute can receive a rest day cancellation for court, urgent policing matters never minding what you had planned with the family. We can never have a "life" so to speak, as we are constantly expecting it to be cancelled.

You don't see Tom Winsor, Theresa May or David Cameron policing the streets single crewed at 3am. Or policing New Years Eve on flat rate money because the Bank Holiday hasn't kicked in till 06:00 hrs.

You don't see them turn up to deliver a death message to a woman who's been out of her mind with worry wondering why her husband hasn't answered his mobile.

Or holding onto a child that has been involved in a car crash and watch their life ebb out of them because there's nothing they can do to save them.

Every time something like this happens, I leave a piece of me at that incident. There's only so much of me to go round.

We deserve the pay we get for what we have to endure!

What has happened today will effect each and every household across the country. You won't see recruitment drives any more and officers won't be replaced when they leave. So don't go screaming that no one has turned up to your burglary because pulling items from magic hats only works for Paul Daniels.

How about this one Mr Winsor? Try going to London Underground or other railway companies and try sweeping cuts in something you do know something about.

Then see how long it takes before the capital and the country grinds to a halt again with an all out strike.

Something I envy them for at times!

Here endeth the rant.

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming!

2011-03-02T11:49:00.003Z

Police pay cuts 'unavoidable' says Home Secretary

Pay cuts for police officers "must form part of the package" of savings earmarked for the service in England and Wales, the home secretary has said.

BBC News 2 March 2011

Well to quote the Federation Chairman (@PoliceFedChair) on Twitter this morning

"The home sec knows how to motivate cops!"

Once again I'm left baffled as to exactly why I am still a bearer of Her Majesty's Warrant, when the government who call upon us to put ourselves in danger for them due to their radical and sometimes stupid decisions, stab us straight in the back with an announcement like this.

As I stated earlier on Twitter (@ResponsePlod) I don't do this job for the money as otherwise I would have joined an organisation where I was guaranteed better pay and conditions, my rest days, Christmas Day, Bank Holidays and going home at the end of every shift, preferably alive. I did join this job,however and please forgive me for sounding cliché, to make a difference and help people.

I've always enjoyed working with the public and being a police officer has been a dream of mine since I was 8 years old. However, in those days, the police were a respected career, good pay, good conditions and looked after by the government.

If the government want to cut funding by 20% by 2015, increase our pension contribution , cut our overtime, housing allowance, travel and freeze our pay what next?

They actually had the cheek to state that police officers can retire early therefore benefit considerably from their pension. What they fail to state is that by the time we retire, we are burnt out! We've gone through hell to get there with long and dangerous shifts, cancelled days off and the risk of divorce due to never seeing your family.

Cutting our benefits? That's a joke! There's nothing left! If they cut our travel allowance then what they fail to realise is that the reason it's there is so if there's an incident on a train, bus etc you are duty bound to get involved!

I would say, they can kiss that goodbye because if I've had to buy a ticket, I'll be sat in the corner (most likely crushed standing) with my headphones on, looking the other way. The problem is, I most likely will get involved and probably get a Reg 9 as a thank you present.

With the recent insulting staged 1.5% pay rise from the last Home Secretary resulting in a mass protest march which I was proud to take part in. What will this latest kick produce from us?

Some mutterings and groans because that's all we can do. We cannot strike like other services. If we had that right, we would have walked out and not been back.

This government with their cuts, have pushed people to the limit. You only need to take a look at the goings on in Greece and the Middle East for an idea of what could happen.

The government would then expect us to fight back against these protesters for them.

Be very careful Mr Prime Minister, as you may see one or two of us joining the protest, come the revolution!

Fueling My Enthusiasm!

2011-02-26T17:03:00.000Z

A great result in the early hours of this morning! We were on our special operation, the one I have been dicked with for the last two and a half weeks on nights.

We were moored up in our unmarked response car in our usual haunt for high value thefts when a distinctive blue Ford Transit van came into the area where we were parked.
Giving us and the articulated lorries a good looking over they turned around, slowed past us, gave us another look and took off like scalded cats.

Putting the VRM out for circulation as it completely disappeared we searched the area for it. PNC showed it was "IN TRADE" no surprises there.

One of the officers on duty heard this over the radio and said it matched the description exactly to a van that been involved in the robbery of £200,000 worth of suits!

Hearing over the radio that it was spotted, we blued over and saw it surrounded by police vehicles but trying to get through no matter what.

I turned the hidden blues on and pulled straight across his path. He had no where to go!

Both dragged from their vehicles and cuffed, we found barrels of fuel in the back along with hoses and equipment to steal fuel.

It appears that they were approaching lorries at night and stole fuel whilst the drivers slept.

They were nicked for theft of fuel, going equipped to steal and suspicion of theft of the suits.

They Always Come Out At Night.....(or sometimes the day too)

2011-02-23T13:47:00.001Z

The Night Turn always guarantees to bring out the oddest people and therefore some of the oddest calls that generally, as a rule, you don't get during the day.

There is apparently, some medical evidence (somewhere, don't ask me to look for it) that states that the effect of gravity from a full moon on the chemicals in the human brain can have some bizarre effects and it is where the term "Lunatic" comes from.

Also the cover of darkness with enough light from the full moon can allow people to move about almost undetected.

So no surprise to be asked to assist a call in the small hours to a lady who stated that she had been burgled.

Nothing unusual there, except for the fact that she said over the phone that she was out in the garden squatting on her lawn going to the toilet when her neighbours broke in and took her stuff in the ten minutes she was sat out there.

She said she "knows its wrong to do toilet out on the lawn but next door are just evil, just evil!"

Thankfully, within ten minutes she called back to say that she had found all her stuff and all was well and we don't have to worry about coming round.

Queue sighs of relief over the radio!

We all do some odd things in time and the light, be it from a blazing sunny day or a moon lit night can play havoc on your perceptions.

One Sunday a few years back, we were called to an Immediate grade to a street in Brixton, South London, for a robbery in progress. We arrived about 10 minutes later and witnesses had informed us that the robber and his victim had both left the scene. So after taking descriptions we carried out an area search of which there was no trace.

To double check everywhere we went up on the Brixton train station which we knew had no service due to engineering works.

It was a very sunny day and as we were up on the platform I could see a man at the far end leaning against the wall with his bag by his side. Thinking to myself that this man could be either the victim, robber or witness it was a good idea to check him out, either way, I was going to inform him that there was no service on this day and he needs to find another route.

As I approached, I called out a “Hello” to which I received no response, I thought maybe he didn’t hear me so I repeated my call, still I got no response. The man was just leaning with one foot up against the wall and staring into no where. I thought either he’s genuinely deaf, or just plain ignorant so I waved my arms above my head and shouted “YO! You on the platform!” Still I got no response. “OI!” I shouted “OI MATE!” still nothing!

It was only as I got about 10 feet away from him I realised that this man would never answer me

…he was a statue and not just any statue,

......he was the famous Brixton statue of the “Perpetually Waiting Man”

A chorus of laughter from my bewildered colleagues as I turned back meant that, damn they had seen it all! I was getting comments like,

Well, I instantly blamed the bright Sun in my eyes!

“Was you going to arrest him under section 25, failure to provide details”?

And “Who’s that over there? ….Statue?

Spitting Feathers!

2011-02-17T13:31:00.000Z

Yes, yes, this is gonna be a nasty post so stop reading if you think you can’t handle it!

After reading a "Tweet" made by @999Response last night about being spat at, it occurred to me that "spitting" is the most hated assault in our job.

I don't know why people resort to spitting when cornered, it must be a primal instinct and last line of defence but I see it as a sign of anger, hatred and contempt.

I thought it was on the decrease. I could count at one stage the number of spittings at me on one hand but that seems to have doubled over the last year alone.

I can handle being punched, kicked, slapped, head butted, sworn at etc but incidents involving the mouth literally leaves me boiling over.

I cannot stand spitting or biting. It's the one thing on the job I hate the most. If I've arrested someone and they bite or spit at me then it takes an incredible amount of self restraint not to punch them straight in the face or worse. In my mind, I've already done it and they're laying on the floor, spark out. But of course, in reality I cannot do that as I would be no worse than them.

What I have to do is try not to react at all and show it has had no effect that I have the contents of the back of their lungs, nose and throat sliding down my face or that their teeth marks have caused a bruise on my hand. What I do do, however is to jam my flat opened palmed hand down the side of their face and neck and force their head and face down whilst placing them into a locked restraint so they cannot do it to me or anyone else again.

When women spit, I really get angry, especially when it's at me. Maybe it's an instinct, call it sexist if you wish, that I believe that women should not be spitting!

I arrested a woman a few years back for D&D (Drunk and Disorderly) and she was quite happy being led to the van, but just as I was putting her in the back of the cage, she turned and spat a huge green wad of phlegm straight into my face. I restrained myself from not throwing her straight to the ground but informed her that she was now under arrest for Assault Police as her phlegm slipped towards my mouth which I hastily wiped off!

I witnessed an incident a few years ago in East London where a student officer had his bicep ripped open by what can only be described as something that looked like a bite from a nature program. He was helping to restrain a giant of a man who was kicking off and the officer unfortunately leant across his face leaving his arm open. The bite was horrendous, he tore into and ripped the flesh, then followed the blood curdling scream of the poor student officer as most of his bicep disappeared and was spat on the floor.

It's not so much as the possible transmission of God knows what disease these days, it's the total lack of respect for the person that's being spat at or bitten.

So next time you're arresting someone, especially if you're a student officer, be prepared for that spit that maybe coming your way. Try not to put yourself in the firing line and give yourself distance.

And, if you are the one being arrested, keep your mouth closed!

Off The Back Of a Lorry UPDATE

2011-02-16T18:12:00.004Z

Well after humping those boxes for the best part of half a mile and throwing them over a Timber yard fence, we found out where they had originally been stolen.

The owner for the Timber Yard had spoken to one of his neighbouring yard owners and found they had come from him!

The lads who broke into the yard, had thrown everything over the fence and left it there to collect later due to its large quantity.

The problem is, we came along and dragged it half a mile away and the wet boxes were destroyed spilling contents everywhere.

Thankfully I wasn't one who had to take it all back!

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Off The Back Of A Lorry

2011-02-13T19:38:00.002Z

Last night is one of those shifts where one incident is the one of the ones that stays with you for the rest of your days.

It wasn't particularly amazing it was just very surreal.

An immediate grade call came after a Q night at 4am this morning and it was to assist some colleagues from the BTP at a train station out in the sticks.

The report from a witness saw two males carrying boxes along a railway line and then disappearing with them over a fence.

Believing they were stealing equipment or cable we arrived on scene just before the local BTP unit arrived.

A search of the immediate area discovered a couple of large rain sodden cardboard boxes on a path near the fence to the railway but no suspects.

Opening them up, we found iPod Touch cases all brand new about a hundred or so in each box,

The BTP carried out a track search incase the two suspects had gone back on the railway while we carried out an area search.

We then received a call.

"We've found some more boxes

......hundreds of them!

..........and tv sets!"

We then assisted in looking for an exit to remove these boxes and that involved having to climb over a rather large gate to a Timber yard which my vertically challenged colleague found a little difficult!

Especially when he caught his trouser leg on a spike and couldn't get down!

Over his shoulder from a house opposite I saw a bemused old lady watching us from her bedroom window.

I'm not surprised, the gate made a racket and our laughter was loud enough to wake the dead.

Going track side we found the BTP, a member of staff from the railway, a large pile of wet boxes and one piece of Heras fencing laying across the tracks.

For an hour or so we humped literally hundreds and hundreds of boxes of iPod cases on to the piece of fence.

Then we then went back and forth dragging this fence on the tracks laden with the boxes about half a mile or so which left us knackered and filthy.

We threw them over another fence at the Timber yard in a pile to be collected.

We then had to load a large van with the gear in order for some poor sod to book them into property! Thankfully that wasn't me!

It was guestimated that there was approximately 5000 of these cases about £10 each retail at least, so you do the maths.

We still don't know where they came from as there were no loss reports.

No wonder these lads gave up carrying them all that way!

We nearly did!

Follow me on Twitter @ResponsePlod #ResponsePlod

The Good Food Guide!

2011-02-12T15:08:00.003Z

Just look at that beauty on the left! Makes you feel hungry right? No, me neither! In fact I do wonder why on earth anyone including me would ever eat such a horrible thing. These God awful things looking like a never decreasing elephants leg in the window seem to be only eaten by those who are drunk or on shift work. However, they have this overwhelming power over us, calling us, beckoning us into buy them whatever the cost. Yet despite your protestations to your colleagues that you definitely won't be having one, you always seem to cave in!

Shift work invariably leads me ending up in the local kebab shop and walking away with a heart attack in pitta bread mainly because it is quick and simple and depending where I got it from, tasty. I used to cook my own food but sods law dictates that just as I am about to heat something up or half way through stirring it an urgent call comes out over the radio and I have to attend.

Recently I was coming out of the local kebab shop with burger and chips nicely wrapped up in polystyrene box and carrier bag when walking to the car we received an urgent call to attend someone who must have seen us buying our food and wanted us to waste it so dialled 999.

We dealt with the call which was LOB and didn't end up in an arrest. Just as I said to my mate, "Right, time for grub!" another call came out. Blue lighting it to the other side of the borough to another LOB call resulted again with no arrest.

Dejectedly I opened the polystyrene box to find a cold burger, colder than a McDonald's burger and it had sweated through leaving the chips quaggy and moist! Still, I was starving and reluctantly, down the hatch it went. I was in no doubt, that I would be regretting that later!

I get a good reception from that kebab house and they are GTP which is handy for penny saving. I've helped them out in the past with the occasional drunk who wants his kebab and wants it now but doesn't want to pay for it. Also we put quite a lot of cash across their counter as practically every nick in the area uses it.

I am supposed to get 45 minutes for break and if I've booked off for "refs" and then get called out I am allowed to take the break again and claim back for the lost food.

What does annoy me though, especially if I'm walking, carrying food or wandering round the aisles at Tesco, Sainsbury's or Morrisons looking for something to eat, are the looks and comments I occasionally receive.

I feel like I've grown a second head sometimes because of the open mouthed stares I get because I dare to shop for something to eat!

I've even had some people have the audacity to say to me "Oh, It's alright for some!" What the hell is that supposed to mean? They are in their free time, I'm working and my lunch time, getting something to eat and they say that!

I had one bloke say to me "No wonder you lot are so fat eating that!" I responded by looking into his trolley and said:

"Well, you could do with the diet version of all that in there yourself mate!"

and walked off with him probably writing down my collar number to complain about me. It's not like I had a piled up trolley, like him, it was a "Be Good To Yourself" chicken curry for Christ's sake!

On the odd occasion I've been stopped by people who want to chat or ask for crime advice. That's great, but I only get 45 minutes if I'm lucky and if a copper is in a supermarket carrying shopping he's there to buy his dinner not to talk about your rhododendrons being trampled on by next doors cat however frustrating it can be.

So the next time you see me coming out of a food establishment, please don't pass a sarky comment, it's alright for you, you've most likely had or going home to a nice cooked meal. Why not tell me where the latest buy one get one free deals are instead!

On The Night Shift

2011-02-08T13:01:00.005Z

God, I hate nights shifts! Mainly because I tend to spend an entire week of my life in reverse, tired, grumpy and I see only about an hour of sunlight a day!

I'm going to work when everyone around me is settling down for the night.

It starts off completely mad, so I haven't even got time to tie my boot laces before we go racing off on an "I Grade" call (Immediate Response) or become assigned to the many outstanding calls still to attend.

Then every thing seems to slow down. I may get called to assist with the occasional drunk by the LAS (London Ambulance Service) or domestic that has sparked during the early hours of the night. Or I might stumble across a driver who is over the alcohol limit.

There's also something inherently wrong with eating a burger or kebab at 3am when I've not been drinking!

Problem is, that as I start seeing the clock run down, the world is waking up and with each tick of the clock brings the possibility of a shout that causes me to go way over my finish time.

Then there is the issue on my last night onto my rest days.

Do I sleep and ruin a precious day off? Or do I stay awake and become grumpy, tired and see my day off go by in a sleepy haze where I'm too tired to do anything I needed to do.

Nights do have their benefits though. Whilst I'm driving home, the opposite way to traffic and watching you all sit in jams heading to the office.

I'm the one grinning and going past you the other way

.....to my bed!

G'Night all!

Follow me on Twitter @ResponsePlod #ResponsePlod

911 caller kills home intruder

2011-02-06T16:15:00.003Z

A woman kills a home intruder while on the phone with 911. KWTV's Jacqueline Sit reports.

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

Could you imagine what would have happened if this was in the UK?

She would have been arrested for Murder, firearms offences and jailed for life.

If he had survived, he would have been the victim, sued her and claimed HIS Human Rights were broken not hers.

In America your home is your castle and if you fear for your life and you shoot them, the law protects you not prosecute you.

Makes me sick to the stomach to know that the Justice System in this country defends those that break the law.

No Surrender!

2011-02-05T21:43:00.002Z

If I don't hear that song sung for a long long time it'll be too soon!
I've been covering the movement of the EDL (English Defence League) protest in Luton or as the media and others call them "fascists" "'Nazis" "Anti Islamists" "far right" etc etc, well, you get the picture.

Now I'm all up for protesting what ever your cause as it's your democratic right. What I can't stand are those that turn up to fight each other and that's all they want to do.

The UAF (Unite Against Fascism) who claim they stand up against the far right usually turn up when the EDL are protesting to counter their demonstration.

The media and others call them "far left" "pinkies" "tree huggers" "soap dodgers" etc etc again, you get the picture.

Both groups are normally penned in separate areas to pretty much throw their chants and usually other things at each other.

Throw in a few more groups that turn up who hate each other and you can imagine the results.

"Very much like football hooligans" I hear you say, and you would be right as many are from football "risk groups" who like to fight.

In the majority both groups usually (apart from some of the chants) behave reasonably well. (as well as they can)

However a small minority think it great fun to throw fireworks, bricks, chairs, pretty much anything that isn't bolted down and if it is, they may rip it up and throw that as well.

Some morons were arrested for smashing up the trains and coaches on the way to the protest or for offensive weapons (our bloke had an extendable cosh and wouldn't come quietly which resulted in a roll around and leg restraints being (untidy) used)

The chants were not really up to the standard of the amusing ones you generally get to hear at football matches and they became intolerable after a while.

What amazed all of us was the sudden ending to the demonstration way before schedule and the extreme quiet as they ALL returned.

We were even thanked for us being there and they claimed it was a success because of our presence.

I even managed to crack a few jokes with some from both sides yet these were the same people who only a short time before, were throwing things at us and each other.

It was eerie.

The main thing was I managed to get stood down 2 hours early so I got to see my daughter before she went to bed.

The other thing was, we all returned home safe!

Oh! The Irony!

2011-02-04T21:15:00.001Z

We arrested a bag thief today. He tried his luck whilst some unsuspecting member of the public was drinking her coffee in one of the well known coffee drinking establishments on our patch.

He was caught by an eagle eyed member of the public who alerted us as we passed and after a bit of a struggle, he was arrested.

Due to his previous for countless bag thefts and the exact nature of this arrest, we were authorised to carry out a section 18 search of his flat.

Upon arriving at the filthy clutter ridden hovel we were greeted by the tell tale signs of previous forced entries by past colleagues.

Searching through the rooms, my colleague shouts

"Here take a look at this!"

He hands me an envelope, inside it was a letter with the familiar "Metropolitan Police" blue logo.

"We are sorry to hear that you have been a victim of theft namely £250" it read

I had to read that again:

"We are sorry to hear that you have been a victim of THEFT!"

The thieving sod had even had the cheek to request Victim Support!

Awww the poor little darling!

He must have been heart broken!

The laptops, cameras, purses, handbags, suitcases he's stolen in the past has in no doubt left his victims gutted.

Now he's has a taste of what it feels like yet he still continues!

I wonder if he gave one minutes thought to the fact that this is EXACTLY how he's made his victims feel in the past and again today?!

.....Probably not

Liar Liar Pants On Fire

2011-02-03T14:26:00.002Z

I've just spent the best part of 9 hours attempting section 18 property searches.

Bloke in custody nicked by us for fraud and immigration issues gave five addresses all over London.

Coupled up with address checks, locating them, heavy traffic and the wasted journeys to literally all four corners of the Capital, I doubt very much he'll get the cost of our wages and the fuel added to his penalty

....if found guilty of course!

Ops for Ops Sake! (Targets For Gods Sake)

2011-02-02T20:50:00.001Z

One thing that always gets my goat is the never ending badgering from SMTs and their increasingly annoying ways of trying to find reasons for me having to justify my existence.

Stick me in a uniform where the public can see me, feel reassured (hopefully) and when necessary ask me loads of SFQs, then I am doing my job.

However Sir/Ma'am, making me stop and account people for the sake of it to make you and your figures look good just for you to obtain that third pip, crown or fried egg is quite frankly insulting.

I don't see you out there with us on yet another pointless anti social behaviour operation purely designed so the nick/area can meet it's detection targets and you call it "ASB" so it can meet yet another force target.

I don't see you stopping someone in order for you to reach the teams targets and have that person give you a mouthful of abuse because it's the fifth time that week they have been stopped and missed their train, bus or appointment.

I don't see you on a freezing cold night having had your nights extended yet again in order to achieve some crazy goal set out by you earlier in the year.

I don't see you stood in the witness box before a Magistrate having to explain why you arrested someone for a minor offence when there was a better option like a good old fashioned "ticking off" which was not given because of the force's "Positive Arrest Policy" and that Constables are pursued hungrily for arrest figures and given bollockings by down trodden Sergeants or by a power hungry Inspector eager for their next promotion because they haven't met "Performance Targets"

What I do see are members of the public getting annoyed at being stopped regularly, their car being stopped again and again in road checks.

What I do see are members of the public coming up to us and asking if everything is alright and why there are so many police about. It panics them as it's out of the ordinary and they fear something bad is going on.

What I do hear are the comments from passers by when on these operations along the lines of "Haven't they got better things to do?"

What we seem to be doing in this target driven business and that's what it's become, a business, is alienating the very people we are out to protect.

By arresting someone purely to enable a box to be ticked, stopping someone to meet a target for another pointless operation it drives a wedge between the public and us.

How can the public trust or understand us if we are constantly abusing that trust?

Crime Maps

2011-02-01T20:18:00.005Z

Well as you've probably seen on the news or followed on Twitter #Crime #CrimeMaps. The world and his wife are talking about Crime Maps.

A great idea? "Yes" say some Estate Agents but a big fat "NO" from me as I'm trying to sell mine and if the young couple who have put in an offer look up my postcode on www.police.uk and find out about the nutter in my road or the fact the couple a few doors down failed to lock their front door one afternoon to come back and find all their stuff nicked, I'm screwed!

However, with 18 Million hits in one day, one crashed website and the fact it cannot find the police area I live in (Strange, as I do see them about occasionally) it might be some time the couple can look up the crime in my area. By then, hopefully the contracts will be signed!

The problem is, if you find crime down your road, what are YOU the reader going to do about it? "Not a lot" I hear you say, as I cannot see the local Estate Agents being over run with clients all eager to move from their well established homes and areas.

However, think again if you find your area virtually crime free!

Areas that have little crime, you can kiss goodbye to your PCSO's and Neighbourhood Officers as they will be moved to an area that is seen to have a crime problem and here begins the vicious circle.

Target chasing SMT's will want their forces to look all clean and tidy and complaint from the public free,

So if "Little Johnny ASBO" is constantly breaking windows in your road, then I have good news for you. If you or your neighbours are reporting this, then soon you'll be seeing gleaming new or expanded policing teams heading your way to clean up the mess and "Little Johnny ASBO" will be dealt with expediently right up until a Magistrate releases them with a £10 fine paid over a hundred weeks.

BUT when crime levels start to drop and your road becomes deterred from crime by the high visibility policing, don't expect your policing teams to remain.....

They will end up being moved back to clean up the mess in their original area, as crime has risen to such a level the SMT are getting complaints from the public. Not only will they be angry that the policing has gone but crime levels are through the roof thanks to "Little Johnny ASBO" who has had to move in their road as he's no longer allowed where he lived!

So the Policing teams are moved in to tackle with little Johnny ASBO and.......

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Guess who's back?

2011-02-01T19:06:00.002Z

Well I'm probably talking to myself publishing this as any followers I did have have probably long since left. Although they may suddenly get a surprise email if they subscribed to my posts! But then who can blame them for going? I certainly can't.

Long story short. Since my last post there has been two additions in my family, both girls. The eldest now three (yes it really has been that long!) and the youngest 17 weeks.

It gets a tad tough when every time you go to sit and type on your pc the wife calls you down to deal with one of the kids and so on!

Thank God for the iPhone and blogging apps! It occurred to me that they have Twitter (@ResponsePlod) and Facebook on the apps so why not a blogging app. They have and here I am using it.

I'm still in the job and I will be endeavouring to keep these blogs going for as long as I can (even if no one is reading them)

The only difference being is that I cover response occasionally now as these days I'm on a Tasking squad designed for dealing with pretty much any problem that comes our way.

Hopefully these blogs will be interesting and I hope amusing at times!

So. Here's to Response Plod 2 The long awaited sequel (well, for me anyway!)

Cheers!

Response Plod (well, ish)

Police officer dies in road crash

2008-01-13T14:26:00.000Z

From BBC

A police officer responding to an incident has been killed in a road accident in Manchester. Pc Christopher Hart, 40, was driving a police van on Pottery Lane in Openshaw when it collided with a car, overturned and hit a set of traffic lights.

Pc Hart suffered serious head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. His colleague and three people in the VW Polo suffered minor injuries.

Investigations into the cause of the crash are under way.

The junction between Ashton Old Road, Pottery Lane and Alan Turing Way was closed shortly after the crash, at 2355 GMT, while officers dealt with the scene.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the second male police officer in the van was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary but was later released.

Pc Hart was a response officer based in Bury.

Ass Chf Con Justine Curran said: "This is a tragic incident in which a serving officer with Greater Manchester Police has lost his life. "Our thoughts are now with his family and colleagues and we are offering them every support."

Chf Supt Jon Rush, Bury Divisional Commander, said: "Chris was a respected member of Bury division and his tragic and sudden death will be deeply felt by his family, particularly his young son, and his work colleagues."

Chris Burrows, of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, said: "We are mourning the loss of a respected colleague and father. All our thoughts are with his family at this time."

------------------------------

My condolences to his family and friends at this sad timeIt's a worrying thought which must go through my head every time I switch the blue lights and sirens on. Is the call worth this blue light run? and I hope we get there safely. I would rather arrive two minutes late than never at all

Police officer dies after arrest

2007-12-27T10:23:00.000Z

From The BBC

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a policeman died on duty in north-west London.

The 48-year-old police officer collapsed trying to arrest a man following a domestic incident at Brinkburn Gardens in Wembley.

Police were called to the address at about 1745 GMT on Boxing Day.
A post-mortem examination will be carried out later to establish the cause of death. The man arrested is in his 30s.

Other deaths

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of a police officer while on duty with the Metropolitan Police.

"Events such as this highlight the dangers that our police officers face every day when protecting the public."

The Association of Chief Police Officers also offered its condolences.

Two other police officers have died on duty this year.
On 6 May Pc Richard Gray was shot by a man after attending a domestic incident in Shrewsbury. The man then committed suicide by shooting himself.
In June 36-year-old Pc Jonathan Charles Henry was fatally stabbed in Luton. A man is awaiting trial accused of his murder.

My sincerest thoughts and condolences go out to our colleague's family and friends at this difficult time.

Petition Your MP!

2007-12-12T10:40:00.000Z

A letter template has been created by the Metropolitan Police Federation Constables Branch enabling you to send this letter to your local MP. you can use the link www.theyworkforyou.com and fill in your post code to see who your MP is. There is a link on that page enabling you to send the MP an email. My MP replied personally by letter when the POLFED asked us to petition the MP's at the start of all this.

This is the letter, please feel free to copy and paste it

Dear [MP]

RE: 2007 Police Pay Award

I am writing to you as a serving police officer to express my anger and
disgust at the underhanded behaviour displayed by the Home Secretary in reaction
to the decision of the Police Arbitration Tribunal to award police officers a
2.5% pay increase.

It appears that Jaqui Smith has performed a far from magical sleight of
hand in which the 2.5% will not be back dated to lst September but instead will
be paid from the 1st of December, thus representing an insulting 1.9% increase -
a lower award than any other emergency service or public sector body in England
and Wales.

What justification can there be for this action? If ACPO and the APA
think that 2.5% is affordable and should be backdated to 1st September then why
doesn't the Home Secretary?
Has she forgotten the unique status of police
officers who have forfeited the right to strike in order to serve the public? In
the absence of this right, we don't even havearbitration that is binding on the
Home Secretary. Is she unaware that police officers face a level of restriction
in their private life far exceeding that of any other publicsector worker?

Can she not understand the increasing level of danger police officers
face each day? To compare us as she has with other public sector workers such as
teachers and nurses shows a high degree of either misinformation or
ignorance.

I wish to convey to you the sense of outrage that this action has
created throughout the police service, a service that is able to function as it
does due to the sense ofduty and goodwill of officers.

Whilst it is difficult to diminish that sense of duty theactions of the
Home Secretary has put the goodwill in serious jeopardy. Officers face a prison
sentence if they take strike action but for many of them this is a path they
feel they may have to consider if this situation is not resolved.
I therefore
seek your support in this matter by signing the Early Day Motions 494 and 512
and urge you to pass on to your colleagues in Westminster the strength of
feeling of the police officers of England and Wales.

Yours sincerely,

Kicked In The Teeth!

2007-12-07T10:54:00.000Z

BITTER disappointment, disgust and "another knife in the side of British policing" are how furious frontline officers have described the Home Secretary's decision to effectively only give them a 1.9 per cent pay rise this year!

After accepting the police arbitration tribunal's 2.5 per cent pay award Jacqui Smith will NOT back date it to 1 September as was recommended. Instead police officer pay packets will only see the increase from 1 December.

In a letter to The Chancellor of The Exchequer, Mr Alistair Darling, Ms Smith said the effect 'will produce a headline annual settlement of 1.9 per cent' which effectively shaves 0.6 per cent off the award. The Home Secretary was due to formally announce her decision yesterday on 6th December.

In my opinion this shows the government's contempt towards police officers. I am gob smacked but in many ways not surprised at this news. I just hope that there are calls being made to access the "right to strike" The Labour government since coming into power have bound the police force, sorry, service, in red tape, bound our hands to issue out punishment and cut further and further back in spending so much so, you barely see a police officer on the streets anymore and this is now the cherry on a very large proverbial cake!

After the alerts on 9/11, the attacks on 7/7, the Glasgow airport attacks, the attempted attacks on 21/7 and the failed car bombings. It adds insult to injury when officers put the job first before their families to protect the public putting in hundreds of hours without question only to have the government they are protecting insult them with this embarrassment of a pay rise.

The hole in the bottom of the bucket is getting bigger. In the years I have been in the force I have seen many good officers leave as they cannot stand the working conditions any longer. There will be a time when the bucket being filled with recruits will gradually be reduced to a drip, eventually stopping. Let's face it, would anyone want to work in these conditions with a government who doesn't give a toss?!!

Any other group of workers would be thinking about taking industrial action. If this was the London Underground you wouldn't have seen a tube train for the last 6 months! What angers me more is that the government know this and that's why we have to just carry on regardless to the best of our ability. Because if we don't, someone ultimately suffers and the government knows this!

I am very interested in how the Federation will want to pursue this! Hopefully they will insist on direct action!

I for one will be withdrawing my goodwill and will be working to rule.

Whoops!!!

2007-10-25T12:06:00.000+01:00

Hampshire police thought it would be a good idea to advertise on the rear of a bus. Their planning did not take into account the position of the exhaust pipe!

The Thin End Of The Wedge?

2007-10-19T18:33:00.000+01:00

Take a look at the picture on the left. If you can't see it clearly, click it and it will enlarge. Who are the the two officers in uniform? In a rush or in an urgent need you may well think you are looking at or talking to police officers but you will be wrong!

They are in fact Community Support Officers, in this case belonging to Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. Their uniform is extremely constable like and their hats adorn a chequer band all be it blue and white as apposed to black and white.

Unison, which represents the majority of police staff across England and Wales have petitioned the Home Office to issue CSOs with a standard kit to ease public confusion and their plans are to be similar to Devon and Cornwall's Sussex and Cambridgeshire's CSO's.

The union said it wants to routinely issue CSO's with stab vests (no arguments from me there) and have said that "to do the job properly CSO's need the right kit, a uniform that is distinctive, practical, smart and carries the authority of office."

Now, excuse me? "distinctive"! How can looking almost identical to fully trained, fully sworn constables be distinctive?

The Federation and ACPO have urged caution with the new standardised uniform because they look too similar to police officers.

In my opinion it will cause greater confusion rather than lessen it if their uniforms were standardised like the above plans! Unison said the new uniform could lessen the furore around such incidents when the CSOs from Greater Manchester Police did not jump into a pond in Wigan where 10 year old Jordan Lyon drowned in May.

How will it lessen the furore? As I asked in the first part, what if there is an urgent situation and you need a police officer and instead you get an under trained CSO who walks into view. The member of public will see a police uniform and expect that person to be fully equipped and more importantly, fully trained. When the CSO claims they can't deal with the situation because of various reasons this will most likely infuriate the member of public causing possible danger to the CSO or worse still, like the Wigan incident, result in death!

The public see a uniform and react, they know what a police uniform is, they've been brought up around it. When someone is popped into an extremely similar uniform and placed onto the street there will be trouble to follow.

If, the CSOs at the Wigan incident were in a very different uniform to a police officer then people would have probably understood a bit more, instead, they saw someone wearing a police uniform doing nothing! Even the newspapers called them "cops"

A definite difference needs to be made and an explanation to the public about the powers a CSO has.

If Unison wants similar uniforms, better training and betting equipping CSO's then what next?

Will they start to encroach on the jobs sworn officers do?

.....OOPS!!!! TOO LATE!!!

If you make CSOs look like Police Constables, train them up better and better equip them, surely that makes them Police Constables?

.......at half the price!

Mental Health Problems

2007-10-05T13:04:00.000+01:00

No, not me, (although the people I work with will probably beg to differ) but the people I have been dealing with this week. The barking mad, or in political correct terms, mentally ill can be a source of mild amusement (as they place their cigarettes into a cup of water and wonder why they won't light) or in the majority of cases sorrow, despair and frustration.

We all walk a fine line of sanity which if through some sort of crisis or chemical inducement can cause some people to fall over the edge into a world littered with anti depressants and psychiatric doctors and stays in mental health units.

The only real difference between a person who is "sane" and "insane" is a letter from a doctor.

The police have a power under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 to remove any person within a public place to a place of safety who appears to them to be suffering from mental disorder and to be in immediate need of care or control. A person removed to a place of safety under this section may be detained there for a period not exceeding 72 hours for the purpose of enabling them to be examined by a registered medical practitioner and to be interviewed by an approved social worker and of making any necessary arrangements for their treatment or care.

The unfortunate fella we dealt with the other evening was in desperate need for urgent treatment!

At 22:00 hours we were called to a "man going berserk" on a train and was "having a mental breakdown" according to the source of the call. We arrived after about ten minutes and made our way to the train carriage which was a scene of total carnage. It looked as if someone had thrown the entire contents of a dustbin, shopping then mixed in their laundry for good measure. The windows and floor of the carriage were smeared in pizza, there were tea bags strewn every where and to top things off the passenger alarm handle had a slice of pizza stuffed into it.

There were officers already on scene trying to coax a man from a seat who had wrapped his limbs around the arms of a chair and was refusing to budge. He was ranting on and screaming but it was difficult to understand what he was saying. All the time he was holding a carton of milk which was rapidly being spilt all over us, him, the train carriage and anything else nearby. He gripped the carton tightly and refused to let it go, we needed him to release it as it was connected to the arm that was wrapped around one of the chair supports. Eventually we managed to prise it from his tight grip and released his arm from the support and stood him up.

He was shouting "I'm a cleaner, I'm cleaning this train, that's what I do, there's my mate who helps me, there!" pointing straight at me. The amazing thing is, all my colleagues actually looked at me as if he was telling the truth. A split seconds calm followed then once again the ranting started.

We removed him from the trashed train carriage and walked him down the platform to the stairs. I say "walked" but he wasn't moving his legs at the knees so looked more like John Cleese being helped from the location. We got him up to the awaiting van after he was trying to hold onto everything to stop him being removed. After placing him into the rear of the van we could still hear him ranting on to himself about anything and everything.

Arriving at the local hospital and a chat with the staff nurse in triage meant we could save having to endure walking him past all the other accident and emergency patients which would be embarrassing for him. We tried to get him out of the van but because he felt safe in there he didn't want to come out. Every time we asked him "Would you like to come inside and we can get you a brew?" or "Up you get, we've got to go inside now" he would turn the question around and say "Ah! but do you like films? do you use the internet?" which would completely throw our train of thought. Eventually after much persuasion and several times telling us that the pieces of dirty tissue in his pocket was given to him by God, he was led from the van and taken to the special room.

The trouble was the special room had disposable razors lying all over the place and one by one they were quickly found by us and thrown into the clinical waste bins.

The worst thing you can do with a mentally ill patient is agree with their rantings as you could be agreeing to them doing something dangerous or you could find that they either talk for hours about the same subject or worse, attack you. This man however, went through subjects quicker than master mind and you only had to slip in a word into the conversation and he would talk for ages about it. He overheard us mention something about the roof and before we knew it he was telling us everything about them. He was incredibly intelligent but talked so fast it was hard to understand him. He asked for a cup of tea and as we promised him one it was only right he got one. It was promptly delivered and he told me it was too hot. Not a problem, I said, there's a sink here, we can top it up with a little cold water if he gives it to me I'll gladly do it for him. He proudly stated he would do it. But, instead of going to the sink with the taps, he went to the sink with the shower head and turned it on! Not only soaking himself in the process he flooded the floor! I hastily tried to turn the damn thing off but to no avail! more and more water poured onto the floor and all he could say was "Don't worry, at least it's clean now!"

The nurses wanted to take his blood pressure but he didn't want to remove his coat explaining that he bought it for £17.99 and didn't want to lose it, instead he told the nurse his blood pressure and heart rates from the last time he was in hospital last week.

After listening to him rant on and on for 4 solid hours waiting for a Psychiatric Doctor to arrive and assess him. We were relieved by our night turn officers who arrived just after 2am. They waited with him until 5am when he was transferred to a mental health hospital under section 2 of the Mental Health Act where he was detained there. Unfortunately for them he got progressively worse as the night went on. He was foaming at the mouth and listing those he wanted to kill which understandably concerned our relief crew and the nursing staff as they were included on this list.

What annoys me with all of this is the waiting. We had been on since 1300 hrs that day and if the night crew hadn't attended we would have still been there until 0500 the next morning! And he was prioritised! He was already in a place of safety but some hospitals don't like the police to leave as you have a fully armed security officer standing in casualty in case it kicks off with another patient.

The patient is in desperate need of help and the longer they wait the more frustrated they get and therefore the worse they get and for our point of view, it's a unit that could be deployed to another serious matter.

There is way too much hospital politics which I hate getting involved with. I have been in a hospital where they refused to take in a section 136 as he was registered in another area!

I've been in a situation where a hospital psychiatric doctor refused to take in a patient who was screaming he wanted to die and was rolling around on the floor clawing at us! The doctor claimed he wasn't mentally ill and it was possibly the result of a tumour and to take him to A&E. When I explained he had already been seen and cleared by A&E and they told me to take the patient to him he went mad with rage saying "Well what if he dies!?" I said, "Well he's in the right place then isn't he!?" The patient was screaming and we had to raise our voices to be heard over him. The doctor said, "He's not mentally ill, there's nothing wrong with him, mentally." So I went back to the A&E Sister and explained the situation, "Well if he's not physically ill, or mentally ill, he's free to go then isn't he?" Good thinking Sister! I walked back to the doctor at the mental health unit and he stood there surrounded by his department security guards.
"You say he could be physically ill? Although A&E say otherwise" I asked
"Yes" replied the doctor
"However, you say he's not mentally ill?"
"Yes" replied the doctor.
"So if he's not mentally ill and A&E say he's not physically ill, he's a free man?" I asked
"Well of course he is!" Was the doctor's curt reply
"And you would say this is a public place?" I asked
"....Yes" the doctor replied hesitantly.
"In that case, he's free to leave of his own accord. Goodbye!"
and with that we walked away to the van leaving the man screaming on the floor of their mental health unit. The doctor came running up to us and apologised for his rude behaviour and pleaded with us to take the patient home.
Which of course, we did.

Mass 'bobby lobby' being contemplated

2007-09-28T18:47:00.000+01:00

Federation representatives up and down the country are considering whether it is time for a mass 'bobby lobby' of the Government over police pay, Police Review has learnt.

It is understood there is a growing support among local federations across England and Wales for some form of mass protest by officers outside the Houses of Parliament.

Police Review sources have confirmed the idea was given serious consideration at last week's meeting of federation chairs and secretaries, although no firm decision was made.

One person at the meeting said "When we talked about pay it seemed there is not much appetite for the right to go on strike. But the general feeling was that we want it to be recognised that we have no right to strike."

The last 'bobby lobby' took place in 2002, when more than 10,000 police officers came to Westminster to lobby MPs over the Government's proposals for pay and conditions and police reform.

Another source, also at last week's meeting, said "As police are seen as the last line of defence, if we were to fight for the right to strike, we would lose public sympathy. It is about making the point that we have not got the right to strike."

The 2007 police officer pay rises are to be decided by arbitration on 2 November after the Staff and Official sides of the Police Negotiating Board failed to come to an agreement over the summer. The Staff Sides's claim is for a 3.94 per cent pay increase while the Official Side offered 2.325 per cent. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is not bound by the arbiter's decision.

Both sources from the federation's chairs and secretaries meeting confirmed that there seemed to be 'a lot of support' fro some form of mass lobbying of Government.

The national federation is understood to be considering what percentage of each force would need turn up to ensure any demonstration would have big enough impact.

All I have to say on this matter is "When and what time?"

There are Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

2007-09-27T17:28:00.000+01:00

Sir Ronnie Flanagan made some excellent points about officers not being allowed to use their discretion. Due to the target driven nature of police forces these days, officers are being told to make arrests with absolutely no discretion so their force can make their targets in particular crimes so to guarantee their budgets for next year.

I just wish that someone had told my force about Sir Ronnie Flanagan's findings!

Due to some administrative cock up by person(s) who shall remain anonymous, we all received an email regarding the number of low level disorder detections that had been calculated at our particular nick. We are a very successful police station if I do say so myself but in many ways probably too successful. When the predicted detection rate for the year we are in now was sent, somebody over-estimated it by nearly 400 detections!

So what, you may say but the problem that faces us now is that each officer has now been instructed to detect an extra two low level disorders a week to be able to make that target.

Meeting that target isn't really a problem but what the problem is, is that once again discretion has been chipped away so that there is hardly any left.

In a normal situation regarding low level disorder you could have used your discretion to decide on the outcome. The person committing the disorder could have been moved on or ejected from a location in order to stop that disorder from occurring. That person after being spoken to goes home with a flea in their ear and a little bit wiser and the chances are they will not come to police notice ever again.

But, if we are now being instructed to detect these extra disorders then people who would have not normally come to notice are being put through the criminal justice system and could end up with a criminal record for something extremely minor! We are therefore making criminals out of people who are not criminals just to make targets!

The problem doesn't stop there.

Who's going to deal with all this extra paper work that goes with these extra detections? Us that's who! Sir Ronnie Flanagan has already stated that there is too much bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork that the police officers have to do and this is just adding to it. It takes at least 2-3 hours to put together a comprehensive file for court and that's not including the time it takes to book the detained person into custody assuming they have been arrested for the offence rather than reporting them for it.

So for those extra two detections they are instructing, you can expect to find the officer spending at least a shift off the streets to deal with the paperwork and procedures. A shift which will no doubt be short of an officer to detect, what is in my opinion, more serious crime which if the officer would have been allowed to use their discretion in the first instance, that more serious crime would have been dealt with.

The Federation have already spotted the potential flaw with constabularies following the recommendations of Sir Ron with their response to his review of policing:

"The Police Federation would agree with many of Sir Ronnie’s recommendations, but you could be forgiven for thinking we have been here before. In 2002 a predecessor of Sir Ronnie’s chaired a Bureaucracy Task Force that made many similar proposals. Regrettably, without the cash and political will needed many of these recommendations will fail to become a reality."

It looks as if Sir Ronnie's words are already being ignored!

Give Us Your DNA!

2007-09-26T18:41:00.000+01:00

I finally managed to watch Monday's BBC Panorama this afternoon regarding the DNA debates and the pros and cons of having a national DNA database.

I was extremely pleased to hear of the success of the two murder cases which because of DNA matches the murderer was caught.

In 1995 18-year-old Louise Smith, went missing after visiting a nightclub with friends. Seven weeks later her body was found hidden in a local quarry. She had been raped and murdered.

The police found the murderer's DNA at the scene. They then took samples of DNA from thousands of local men to find a DNA match, and the killer.

It took 14 months to find him, and he was someone with a completely clean record.
It was this case that led to a change in the law in England and Wales so that samples of the innocent could be kept, moving a step closer to a universal database.

The police dealing with the murder case said to Louise Smith's parents Gill and Rob Smith, that if there would have been a National DNA Database the killer would have been identified within 14 days as opposed to 14 months.

Kim Newson's killer was identified through DNA being obtained as the result of a previous burglary. During a burglary in a bar in Lincoln the thief took bottles of drink and in an alley around the corner of the bar he sorted through what was needed. However, he pulled his glove off using his mouth and saliva on that glove gave the forensic scientists the sample they needed. It matched a sample of DNA taken from a burglary 7 years earlier. It led the police to Steven Charles Hughes and a search of his flat which was below Kim Newson's uncovered a much more serious crime. They found a copy of a birth cerificate of Kim Newson in Hughes' jacked pocket and it had her blood and a foot print in the blood on it. After taking a foot print sample of Hughes it matched. Hughes was eventually charged and then convicted of the murder of Kim Newson.

A specially commissioned opinion poll for Panorama has revealed that two thirds of people would be in favour of a national DNA database.

Sixty-six percent of those questioned by ICM said they would approve of a new law requiring all adults to give a sample of their DNA to help with the prevention and detection of crime.
There are currently over four million DNA profiles on the database and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Those who are arrested for a recordable offence - anything from drink driving to murder - have to give their DNA sample for the database. Even if they are innocent their DNA will still be kept.

However of those questioned for the ICM poll for Panorama 64% were against the idea of taking samples from newborn babies.

The success of DNA in solving crimes has been massive! Clear ups in burglary, cold cases with the use of DNA have seen the offenders locked up but senior forensic scientist Professor Allan Jamieson who is Director of The Forensic Institute, based in Glasgow warns that too much trust is already placed in DNA results.

He says: "People put too much faith in DNA. They're giving it an infallibility which it does not have."

He explains that finding DNA traces does not always tell you what you think it does.
"We've shaken hands. My DNA will be on your hand. You may touch something outside of this room that I have never touched, and therefore my DNA will be somewhere where I have never been," he adds.

There has been a documented case of mistaken identity with DNA. In Swindon a man with Parkinson's Disease was arrested, and charged with a burglary in Bolton. He was frail and had never been there. But his DNA sample - it is claimed - matched one taken from the crime scene.

Eventually the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) admitted that he could not have done it.

In my personal opinion I have no issues with giving a DNA sample should it be made mandatory. I have no reservations in giving a sample should a voluntary request be made in the event of an incident. I have nothing to hide! I believe that you should be worried if you do have something to hide.

Civil Liberty groups believe that it is wrong to hold information about parts of you being held on a database but for this doubt I ask just one question...

Suppose your daughter, son, wife, husband, partner was murdered....wouldn't you want the police to use everything in their power to find the person responsible?

Night Shifts

2007-09-24T20:51:00.000+01:00

Nights are a strange set of shifts. For me my entire life is upside down for 7 days. You eat when you should be sleeping, you're sleeping when you should be up and about and now the nights are drawing in the chances of seeing any daylight for the week is nigh on impossible. I work a 5 week roster so the other 4 weeks of the shift are during daylight hours.

Now, I understand and accept that due to the nature of the job night shifts are inevitable but why in the modern age I have to do 7 of them is beyond me?

The most common performance challenges of night-shift work come from the human biological clock or cycles. Three main cycles, or rhythms, have been identified: ultradian (20 hours or less), circadian (20 to 28 hours), and infradian (28 hours or more). Circadian comes from the Latin (circa, about; dies, day) and is based on the human internal-body clock that runs on a schedule of about 24 hours. To understand this 24-hour cycle, let's look at what influences it.

Biological factors include the rise and fall of human-body temperatures throughout the day and the daily cyclical production of different hormones. Human-body temperatures can vary by nearly five percent in a single 24-hour period. A low temperature peak at approximately 4 a.m. and a high temperature peak near 5 p.m. coincide with a police officers typical alertness extremes.

The social cycle is dictated by societal norms, such as when the smell of breakfast wafts into your dream, or when the bin men tumbles the dustbins down the street. It's difficult to overcome these sleep influences, even with reduced light and noise for daytime sleeping. The clock on the wall, habitual sleep, meal times, and work and leisure activities are prime examples of social time cues. People seldom or never adjust completely to the night shift or to a new rhythm.

Sleeping at the right times, in best coordination with the circadian rhythm, is referred to as having good sleep hygiene. Postshift sleep should be coordinated with the circadian rhythm. Studies show daytime sleep periods are typically 41 percent (three hours) shorter and less restorative than nighttime sleep. A shift from the normal sleep, work, leisure schedule to one of work, leisure, sleep is required to allow sleep during the normal afternoon trough in body temperature and peak in error tendency. Studies show a moderate error peak around 3 p.m., with a much more severe error peak around 3 a.m.

There is an old saying that shift work takes ten years off your life and in many ways I believe it. It takes two days for the human body to adjust its hormones to cope with night shifts. This switch from diurnal to nocturnal mode then allows your body to cope with extended night shifts. Hence the reason you tend to sleep better and longer towards the end of your set of night shifts. The problem lies when you need your body to switch back from nocturnal to diurnal. This takes 6 weeks. So if you are working a 5 week roster and it takes 6 weeks to switch back, technically you are working with your hormones on permanent nights. To counter this problem, night shifts shouldn't be over more than two shifts then switch back to days to counter the hormone imbalance.

Then there is the problem with fatigue. You have to be extra careful with response driving at night. The glare from headlights, poor or cold weather takes its toll on a drivers ability to concentrate but when you're responding on blues and twos in the middle of the night you have an extra responsibility to be able to get to your destination safely.

All of this and you have to deal with potentially dangerous and or violent situations involving people who maybe more alert than you when you arrive!

Over time this accumulates into stress which can lead to illness. I already suffer with a thyroid problem which is upsetting the balance of my hormones. The Federation are looking into the possibility that it may have been caused by the shifts. There are scientists studying the effects of night shifts and an increased risk of cancer and heart problems.

I love the job to bits but as the song goes "Too much love will kill you!"

A healthy bunch aren't we?

Police defend drowning death case

2007-09-21T14:40:00.000+01:00

Snippets taken from the BBC and interlaced with my thoughts on this subject.

Police chiefs have defended two community support officers (PCSOs) who stood by as a 10-year-old boy drowned in a pond.

Jordon Lyon leapt into the water in Wigan, Greater Manchester, after his eight-year-old stepsister Bethany got into difficulties on 3 May.

Two anglers jumped in and saved Bethany but Jordon became submerged.

The inquest into his death heard the PCSOs did not rescue him as they were not trained to deal with the incident.

His mother, Tracy Ganderton, and stepfather Anthony, of Bluebell Avenue, Wigan, are demanding to know why the PCSOs did not try to rescue Jordon and why they did not give evidence at the inquest held by deputy West Manchester coroner Alan Walsh.

Mr Ganderton told the inquest: "I don't know why they didn't go in. I can't understand it.

"If I had been walking along a canal and seen a child drowning I would have jumped in.

"You don't have to be trained to jump in after a drowning child."

Mrs Ganderton said on Friday that the PCSOs in question should be named.

"If you're walking down the street and you see a child drowning you automatically go in that water.

"You don't care if you're going to lose your job or not, you don't care do you.

"I want them to be named. I want to know why they didn't go in, I want to know why they weren't at the inquest when I had to turn up there, and go through the pain of it all.

"I want to know why they didn't have to be there as main witnesses.

"They should have to be there. They shouldn't have a job."

Paul Kelly, chairman of the Police Federation in Manchester, said PCSOs do not have the same level of training as police officers to deal with life-saving situations.

He said: "The message is clear and unambiguous - it's the government, they are trying to fool the public.

"They take a person and dress him up as a police officer but they just don't have the same powers.

"Every single police officer I trained with left training school with a life-saving certificate of some sort."

He said the PCSOs might not have been able to swim and in that case they should not have risked their lives.

But he added: "People throw themselves into rivers and ponds to save people every day because it's the right thing to do.

"This is an accident waiting to happen again."
----------------------------------------

My heart goes out to that family! What on earth must have being going through those PCSOs heads as the boy struggled in the water to save his sister then his own life?! Then to watch two anglers go in the water to rescue them whilst they just stood there adds insult to injury!

If they couldn't swim then fair enough to a certain degree but what are the odds of both PCSOs not knowing how to swim? Paul Kelly is right about one thing, you would go into the water to save them, I would most certainly do it! Even if I did lose my own life but I rescued the child at least I can rest peacefully! It is the right thing to do!

You don't just stand there and watch a child drown because you didn't have the correct training! That's absolute bollocks! You're own survival instincts and protective nature should kick in and you would go in after them.

What the hell everyone helping must have thought whilst these two cowards stood on the bank is beyond me?! I'm sorry to say it, but in my opinion they are just that, "Cowards!" to hide behind the excuse "We've not been trained" not to go in the water is inexcusable!

This will happen more and more often, cheap officers who don't have the powers to deal are only going to injure themselves and others and in this case the loss of a life!

Scrap the PCSOs now! Re-invest the money back into the force and employ more Police Constables! We are trained to deal with these situations and we have an oath to save life and protect property!

If you train and equip a PCSO properly then surely they are Police Constables!

Rest in peace young Jordon! You were very brave and far braver than those PCSOs!

All Rise! (again!)

2007-09-21T13:52:00.000+01:00

Typical really, I should have known having had it happen to me already twice this week. I was warned for Crown Court again last night for the case which was supposed to have gone ahead on Monday but it didn't and no bugger told me! I later found out that even the defendant turned up expecting it to go ahead.

After faffing about trying to find which court the sentence hearing was in I was told by listings office that it wasn't going ahead again! I was literally on the verge of stepping out the front door when I saw the barrister who was prosecuting the case. He said "Where are you going we're just about to start?" I must have looked like a rabbit caught in headlights as he said "What's the matter?" "I was just this minute told that it wasn't going ahead and was leaving." It was then his turn to look like a rabbit caught in headlights as he said. "What do you mean not going ahead? The defendant is in the court room and we're ready to go!" "Well that was what I was told by listings two minutes ago."

Half an hour later I was leaving the court after hearing the sentence of the defendant which I was pleased with and because Crown Court is a duty commitment and official tour of duty, my day was done and I was heading home missing my first night shift this evening.

What I would like to know is how many hours are wasted through sitting around at court waiting to be called to give evidence? Even being the Officer in Case is bad enough as if you have to give some evidence you're not allowed in the court for the entire time of the case but must be prepared to run around for the barristers and Judge all day.

The number of times I have prepared a file, put several hours into making it, obtaining statements, medical reports only to find that the defendant suddenly changes their plea or the case is adjourned further still wasting more time.

I cannot think of the number of times I have arrived at Magistrates or Crown Court only to find that I am not needed or the date has been changed. Usually we find this out as we are about to go in to the court and most of the day has gone.

I don't mind rest day workings but when I've been sat in a court all day waiting to be called only to find that I'm not needed until the next day when I would have been working, or even not at all annoys me. It's a waste of time and money and I'm pretty sure I could have been doing something more important with it.

My advice to you if you ever have to go to Crown Court to give evidence is take a book and make sure it's a big book!

All Rise!

2007-09-19T20:30:00.000+01:00

Well what a fun week I've had! Apart from being away for the weekend, my computer crashed taking with it the hard drive. It was repaired and then in the middle of a back up it crashed again leaving the hard drive stone dead!

A trip to a mates place saw me ordering a nice new one and an expected delivery time of last night. It turned up this afternoon...go figure!

I arrived back from my annual leave which was mainly filled with decorating the imminent arrivals nursery, knackered and wanting yet more time off! I hate going back into work after A/L as you can guarantee that even with the out of office assistant on you'll still get emails sitting in your inbox saying that they want something doing straight away. The annoying thing is that I've got emergency contacts in my OOA reply directing them to send the emails to my skipper yet the senders never bother to email them and then I get a snotagram asking why I haven't replied even though they receive the OOA and will get one for the email they just sent!

Any way, I digress. My first day back was a Crown Court sentence hearing. I arrived in the office to switch off my OOA and to check my emails, all 71 of them. Most were usual circulars which I usually hit delete. I couldn't see any de-warnings and I never received a de-warn via telephone so off I trotted to the CC.

Walking in through the doors I looked at the TV screens for the listings and couldn't find it on there. I knew it was that day as I was in the Court when they all ordered the date for the sentence hearing to be held.

The job was a year and a half old and was dragging on and on. The fool of a defendant decided to be tried by a jury of his peers and was found guilty for the offence after a two day hearing and a twenty minute deliberation. This case had been adjourned over and over for all that time. I was warned, de-warned at least 15 times during the life time of the case. As the OIC (Officer In Case) I had no choice but to attend and be on the beckon call of all and sundry.

Finally when it did go ahead it would have to be on my rest days! I don't mind the overtime but what's the point of completing MG10's (dates to avoid list) if the CJU (Criminal Justice Unit) and court ignore them!

Well, I as I said, I arrived for the sentencing hearing which was scheduled for the 17th of September and agreed by everyone as no one could make it any other day. I was asked by the CPS (Criminal Protection Service) to attend as I was the OIC. I couldn't see the trial listed so off I trotted to the CPS office who said "It's not listed for today" a little shocked I was directed to the Listings Office who after searching the records said "It's not listed for today, the Recorder has pencilled it to Friday 21st" I was a little annoyed at this and said "I know it's not your fault but why have they moved it? No one could make it any other day and this is why it was set for today." Apparently, according to the lists officer, I was the third officer that morning it had happened to!

I was warned for Crown Court for the rest of the week with another case, in fact the dates clashed so a bit of jiggery pokery with the CJU bods from another nick saw me heading to another Crown Court for the second time yesterday. This job was quite a simple one and frankly I was surprised that I was warned for it. I was arresting officer and was scratching my head as to what the defence could cross exam me for.

I arrived with plenty of time again in full dress tunic and walked to the CPS office. The case (I assumed) was already a day old and the CPS were on the understanding that I couldn't attend the Monday. I asked the CPS officer about the case and he just looked blank saying I should phone the lists office. I phoned, and guess what? The case wasn't even listed!

Two days wasted! The really annoying thing is that I received no de-warnings either via email or telephone for both of these cases and the CJU have my mobile number as they knew I was going away.

They warn you quite happily that a case will occur in the middle of your days off, courses, annual leave or slap bang in the middle of nights despite being given the dates to avoid... yet when it comes to a de-warn, nothing!

I received a phone call this evening from my witness care department and I thought, "Here we go, the case will be tomorrow on my day off."

"Hello PC Response Plod, this is the witness care unit, you are warned to attend (yet another) Crown Court for the case of, Crown versus ***** on 21st October to 2nd November at ******* Crown Court. Will you be able to attend?"

I wonder if this one will be cancelled without prior warning?

Bureaucracy Gone Mad!

2007-09-12T12:15:00.000+01:00

I saw an interesting article on the BBC website today which says that according to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, police officers in England and Wales are bogged down in red tape and afraid to use their own judgement. A video clip of the report can be found here.

In an interim report, Sir Ronnie Flanagan said forces would "over-record and under-deliver" for fear of missing something or being criticised.

And he said "excess bureaucracy" must be cut to free up police time.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said changes were needed to make police "more effective" at fighting crime.

This isn't exactly new to us on the factory floor. Red tape bureaucracy slows our jobs down so much, it's a wonder that any police officers are seen on the streets at all.

First of all on the bureaucracy list of madness is a so called piece of accounting called "bench marking" Where years ago officers could use a thing called "discretion" to decide on the outcome of incidents and encounters, this "bench marking" means that each officer must make an individual number of arrests, process, stops and intelligence reports by the end of the month, "or else!"

For those who joined the force...sorry! service, recently, you may not know what "discretion" is, so here is the dictionary definition:

dis·cre·tion

the power or right to decide or act according to one's own judgment;
freedom of judgment or choice: It is entirely within my discretion whether I will go or stay.

and there you have it, it is the freedon of judgment or choice and discretion was one of our biggest tools in the job and has been chipped away bit by bit by petty bureaucracy and I include "bench marking" within the bounds of it too.

It was great, in the old days you turned up to an incident, eg. a common assault which quickly transpires that there's counter allegations. The usual kind of job where they could have easily sorted this out with an apology but the decide to waste everyones time by calling the police.

No one actually has any injury yet both are complaining to you that they have had a scrap. "Six of one" jobs are common and counter allegations are a familiar phrase you hear, especially when one realises he's about to be locked up.

You would then turn to each IP (Injured Party) and explain that due to the fact they are counter alleging assaults, both will be arrested and possibly charged to go before court. So are they likely to drop it now, rather than later when wasting everyones time? Usually they would and all would be forgotten with a handshake. The incident would be updated with "no party willing to pursue allegations" it will then be closed and job's a goodun!

In today's red tape world both parties would have to be arrested and investigations would have to take place into what would happen. Hours and hours of officers time is then wasted: awaiting custody space, booking in the prisoners, writing up the notes, then interviewing (as we all don't have case building teams) bailing, gate keeper appointments, CPS appointments (who will likely boot the case out) and if they make a decision to charge, the file needs to be made. As well as all this the crimes would have to be put on the system even if both parties are unwilling to pursue the complaint!

So, if I turn up to an incident and a crime has been committed but no party is willing to pursue or no party is there, the crime gets recorded as a "Crime Related Incident" What is the point in that? All it does is upset the figures, over inflates them and it means that more time is wasted by the officer because they have to put it on the system!

Basic things like stopping and talking to people these days is a nightmare! In days of old you just spoke to them, took name, date of birth, address details and that was that. In red tape world you have to record what they were wearing, location of stop, time of stop, and what ethnic background they wish to be counted as being part of! The form is now the length of a fixed penalty notice and can take about ten minutes to fill out if done neatly. No wonder people you stop get the hump if you're having to fill out this form and waste their time too!

God forbid if you have to search them! as even more questions need ticking or filling in. But that's not the end of it. You then, on return to the nick, have to input all these onto the computer assuming you can find a terminal that's available in the writing room as all the other officers are completing their bureaucratic nonsense!

I welcome Sir Ronnie's interim report as it states quite clearly what we've been saying for years and it's about time that someone has finally stood up and said "enough is enough!"

Among his recommendations are:

A drive by police chiefs to encourage officers and staff to "rediscover their discretion to exercise professional judgement"

The introduction of voluntary police community support officers to supplement neighbourhood teams

The creation of standardised forms for recording crimes to minimise excess bureaucracy

A nationwide consensus on "what is and isn't important" for police to record in an effort to cut paperwork.

Sir Ronnie added: "We risk diverting officers' priorities to recording crimes rather than getting out on the streets solving them and preventing them."

Some forces are taking advantages of technology, for example the British Transport Police are using handy little PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) which record stops and searches on handy drop down boxes and simple section filling. Once complete, one button sends everything you need to whoever needs it and prints a slip for the person stopped too. According to Jane's Police Review, the 400 hundred officers given them, have vastly improved logged intelligence submissions and seen officers spend more time on the beat. The PDA allows them to log incidents without having to come back to the police station.

I'm all for this kind of equipment (if it works!) as it makes life easier and cuts down on what I need to carry. Some people joke about the amount of forms I have to carry in the pockets of my stab vest and find it amazing that we have to complete all these documents and submit them for the most simple of reasons.

One of the main reasons we have to complete so many of these forms is for recording of statistics. The Home Office apparently needs all this information to see how many black, white, Asian, Chinese, Arabic etc we stop and to make sure we are getting an accurate record of where they were born. This is so they can pass on the information to any focus groups and yogurt knitters to assess if we are being over-bearing on a particular ethnic group regardless if they have committed a crime or not.

So next time you call the police and they don't show within a time span that you define as respectable, please bear in mind that yours is not the only crime being committed at that particular time, we don't have officers we can pull out of a hat and send to you and the others are probably stuck dealing with the petty bureaucracy explained above that will not allow them to leave the police station!

We Can Talk To Man On The Moon But......

2007-09-10T23:48:00.000+01:00

I can't talk to my colleague standing a hundred yards away!

This "wonderful" new toy came to us about three years ago and was expected to make our job all the much easier and all the more safer. It was called "airwave" to me it sounded like a brand of chewing gum but when I walked into the room for training I was given something that looked like a mobile phone that had let itself go.

We were told we would be able to talk to other forces, dial each other up and talk privately to each other and more importantly, the clarity was supposed to be excellent and secure.

Then we started using them and it was quickly realised that not everything in a new box which shines is good!

We initially were using them on the old analogue system because not everyone had changed over to airwave and were still using their old brick radios. It quickly became apparent, that although the old ones were big, at least they worked!

We switched over to digital and that's where things went from bad to worse. The annoying little beeps on opening and closing of the channel soon sent everyone of us running for the mode functions to turn it off. We were seeing on regular intervals the emergency button being pushed but no one had actually pushed it. Our radios were keying up without the PTT button being pressed and we could hear our colleagues talking about what they were having for dinner, or worse still, they were talking about someone else and we could all hear it!

The funniest scenario was an Inspector who was taking a shower and was heard singing in there whilst his radio was on permanent send and sitting on the bench with the rest of his kit!

Then there's the outages. I've never known a radio where you can be sitting in an area car and your colleagues radio is picking up a transmission but you, sitting three feet away get nothing. Then all of a sudden it kicks in and you pick up half a message.

Great if you want to avoid work but when it comes to officer safety, airwave is next to useless! We've joked about getting paper cups and string because it would be more reliable! Notting Hill Carnival recently is a casing point! The system was so overloaded due to 11,000 officers all trying to use it at the same time!

Then there's the problem with buildings! They don't always work in there! which makes for a really useful situation when confronted with danger and nothing happens when you press your emergency button.

Now if I went to O2 to buy a mobile phone and it didn't work in a building I wouldn't expect them to turn around and say to me;

"Well, you didn't buy the 'Inside Buildings' package, If you want it to work inside, you'll have to pay extra!"

Airwave have said they can and do provide guaranteed in building coverage solutions that forces can buy according to their own operation needs. Please tell me which force are permanently working outside and never go into a building?

In my opinion it sounds to me like they are trying to find another way to stitch the forces up out of more cash!

But that's what the people who supply Airwave say and that's an absolute disgrace! Apparently, according to the Health and Safety Executive the problems are due to the types of contracts signed by the forces when adopting the new system. They decided whether they wanted coverage inside buildings and in particular areas!

Great! They could have told me that when I walked onto a housing estate and the damn thing wouldn't work until I came out! Thank God for mobile phones, as that worked perfectly well!

Airwave still doesn't work on the London Underground! Considering 7/7 was two years ago, you would think that they would have pulled the stops out to get the system working wouldn't you?

Thankfully the newer systems have GPS on board to know where each officer is at any time.

Trick is, will that work in a crisis?

......Out to you.

We Are Still Waiting!

2007-09-08T00:53:00.000+01:00

It's been said by many that policing could be done by trained chimps and for many of our tasks that we carry out that wouldn't be far from the truth!

But we are an emergency service that is 24/7 365 days a year in all weathers and conditions and is fraught with the unexpected, dangerous and stressful situations and when that happens you cannot rely on trained chimps or CSO's for that matter.

We have a unique job which is involving officers who can and will, directly intervene in the lives of the public everyday, sometimes using force when necessary. This brings with it an air of responsibility as often first at the scene of a major incident is a constable.

We deal with crime scenes, serious accidents, seriously disturbed persons, domestic disputes, sexual assaults, murders, domestic assaults, child abuse, gun crime, knife crime We deal with the body retrieval at major incidents like train crashes, car crashes, railway fatalities and then deliver the bad news to the families of the deceased.

Recently, we dealt with the London bombings, the floodings, the Heathrow protests, the recent terror attack on Glasgow airport and the failed terror attack in London the list goes on and on! Couple this up with routine run of the mill calls such as burglary, shop lifters and car crime it's a wonder we have anyone left to do anything.

I would safely say that many people who work outside the police service would baulk at the idea of having to put up with half the amount we have to do if they were required to do it.

I said in a previous entry about the prisoners strike that I think we should bundle the teachers, nurses and other emergency services in with each other, we are here to do a job and we do it knowing what the stress could do to us, knowing that debt, gambling, alcoholics and divorce rates are high among us because of what we have to do and see each and every day. But we continue, why? because we are driven by morals, ethics and we swore an oath to do this job.

However, government policy is set to destroy the already heavily dented morale of the over stretched police service. Even if the arbitration finds in our favour and the ruling is binding on both the staff and official sides of the Police Negotiation Board, it is not binding on the Home Office!

It is possible that if we do receive a pay rise it will be staged, meaning it will come in two parts to add up to the amount we requested. This means that it will be devalued as inflation would have made the first amount worthless, and the same again for the second part later that year.The pay claim from the staff is 3.94 per cent pay increase while the Official side tabled only a 2.325 per cent offer.

At a conciliation meeting back in August no agreement was reached and we are still waiting for the date for the arbitration hearing.So far nearly 20,000 people have signed the on line petition to Downing Street urging Prime Minister Brown to "stop the Home Office interfering in the negotiating of police pay"

Apparently a Home Office spokesman said that "Pay arrangements must be fair and affordable both for the police service and the tax payer"

Last time I checked, I was a tax payer!

The Fair Pay online petition can be found here: 10 Downing Street Petition and there is an online poll on the right about the right to strike.

ACPO: UK Not Awash With Guns

2007-09-07T00:00:00.000+01:00

The most senior policeman spearheading efforts to reduce gun crime has insisted that the country is not "awash" with firearms and that the problem was not out of control.

Chief Constable Keith Bristow, the head of Warwickshire Police and the Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO) spokesman on the criminal use of firearms, stressed that gun crime had declined in recent years.

Speaking ahead of a major ACPO conference to discuss how to tackle gun crime, Mr Bristow said a "concerted effort" was needed from police, communities and other agencies to tackle gun-related violence.

Here again is another yet pointless conference in a series of "how to tackle things"

Usually they throw money at these sorts of things because when the government and public want to know what has been done by the police they can show the budget spent on it and claim they did all they can.

We suddenly end up with teams of fantasy squads who are about for the life span of a May Fly, usually joined by the station cats and Olympic torches so they can get all of the latest bits of Gucci kit which will no doubt be gathering dust in their lockers as soon as the squad is finished. We all get Monday morning emails detailing to us the wonderful way we are going to tackle the latest problem that has cropped up. For "We" read you or me, not the ones who sent it.

Simply put, the way to deal with these latest problems is cut the red tape! Allow us to get back on the streets and be a presence in the neighbourhoods so these gun, knife wielding nutters can see us. I am fed up of arresting someone then to be stuck in the nick doing paper work for it for the next six hours and fed up putting case files together and gathering statements for a job that has already been closed by either No Further Action or a caution! We have plenty of weak and weary officers who are close to being pensioned off for having a finger nail out of place, why not use these as case builders and allow us to write our notes and just go back out there?

I agree to a certain extent with Mr Bristow that this country is not awash with guns but it is most certainly is heading that way. The story of murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones is still fresh in everyone's minds and thus can fool the spirit into thinking that this country is a gun riddled toilet. In my 5 years of being in this job I've only ever had one gun incident. (Thank God!)

Allegedly the FBI warned the UK government some years ago that inner city gangs would be the new thing, what with the rise of Yardie and wannabe Yardie gangs in the USA. Drugs and guns would soon follow. Allegedly the government did little or nothing to act on stopping it.

The rumour that you can walk into any pub in most towns and buy a gun must be wrong. (surely!) Either I look like a copper off duty as well as on because I have never been approached by anyone who's asked me if I've wanted to buy a gun (or drugs for that matter). In fact, most pubs I've been into in the past 15 years I've legally been allowed to drink, you can barely buy cigarettes let alone a hand gun! Anyway, how on earth do you start a conversation about buying a gun in a pub?

"Barman, a pint of John Smith's and a Walther P38 please"

or in some pubs "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?"

In my humble opinion, gun crime is being highlighted by the press more and more. This sparks a general consensus that this particular crime is spiralling out of control. Because we hear of it more.

Yes, it's great that the public are hearing of the horrors which hopefully will dissuade others from committing the same crime but I'm not so sure it is a good thing to keep on and on about them because what I do know for certain is that if you keep highlighting the same subject over and over, people will eventually take no notice, they get bored of it and that can be dangerous, because then it's becoming the norm.

Eventually it no longer becomes front page news which is where it should belong. It ends up migrating through the newspaper and shrinks in size until it makes a small footnote at the bottom of a page. Stories like the one about Rhys Jones should always belong on the front page national news because here is a young boy gunned down at 11 years old on his way home from football practice.

However, hearing about a gang fight between youths and a gun being seen or heard, (especially if it's at the Notting Hill Carnival as it's always happening there) should never make the national news as it waters down the major tragedies and that most certainly is a crime.

Cop Pleasures Himself On CCTV

2007-09-06T20:03:00.000+01:00

According to The Sun, human rights inspectors were shown CCTV footage from a police station’s cells — and were shocked to be confronted by a Police Inspector secretly ‘pleasuring’ himself.

The shamed Inspector Brian Smith was unwittingly captured on film after sneaking off to be on his own during a night shift.

His solo sex act in the custody suite at London’s top-security Paddington Green police station was exposed months later by pure chance — when the watchdogs picked a random tape to view from thousands on a shelf.

The human rights monitors had been checking for ‘abuse’ during their routine visit to Britain’s most secure police station — which is used to house terror suspects, and immediately complained to the officer’s supervisors.

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed: “An officer has been required to resign after it was found proven he had engaged in conduct likely to bring discredit to the Metropolitan Police.”

Why was this one particular officer asked to resign when someone who has killed is allowed to keep his job?

One particular officer kept his job despite being convicted of jumping a red light 27 seconds after it had changed and collided with a scooter rider and killed him on Camden High Street at the junction of Delancey Street and Pratt Street in North London, which has a 30 mile per hour speed limit. He was driving at the time of the crash between 54 and 66 miles per hour when he passed through the red light.

He had pleaded Not Guilty to "Causing Death by Dangerous Driving" which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years but before the Jury retired to consider their verdict he changed his plea to 'Guilty of Careless Driving'.

Desmond Russell, an Acting Police Inspector, for the British Transport Police, was fined £2000 and banned from driving for three years.

Russell claimed the accident happened after the "most stressful shift" of his career!

Pardon me, Mr Russell but if your mind was not on your driving because of "the most stressful shift" of your career then why did you drive home? You as the driver are responsible for your actions and trying to mitigate killing someone by claiming you were stressed is bang out of order!

There you have one officer who hasn't hurt anyone, hid himself out of view from others and pleasured himself, yes maybe he should have waited till he got home, or even to a toilet!

Then you have another officer who destroys the life of an innocent man and his family and just walks away keeping his job! He was lucky considering new plans that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the very worst cases currently prosecuted as death by dangerous driving should instead be prosecuted as manslaughter, which carries a maximum life sentence.

Perhaps the Inspector who was asked to resign for pleasuring himself should have said he was stressed!

Bon Appétit!

2007-09-04T20:56:00.000+01:00

Just reading Totally Un-Pc's excellent blog post entitled "A Relative of the Colonel" reminded me of some scenarios that have occurred to me in the past.

Shift work invariably leads me ending up in the local kebab shop and walking away with a heart attack in pitta bread mainly because it is quick and simple and depending where I got it from, tasty. I used to cook my own food but sods law dictates that just as I am about to heat something up or half way through stirring it an urgent call comes out over the radio and I have to attend.

I was coming out of the local kebab shop with burger and chips nicely wrapped up in polystyrene box and carrier bag when walking to the car we received an urgent call to attend someone who must have seen us buying our food and wanted us to waste it so dialled 999.

We dealt with the call which was LOB and didn't end up in an arrest. Just as I said to my mate, "Right, time for grub!" another call came out. Blue lighting it to the other side of the borough to another LOB call resulted again with no arrest.

Dejectedly I opened the polystyrene box to find a cold burger, colder than a McDonald's burger and it had sweated through leaving the chips quaggy and moist! Still, I was starving and reluctantly, down the hatch it went. I was in no doubt, that I would be regretting that later!

I get a good reception from that kebab house and they are GTP which is handy for penny saving. I've helped them out in the past with the occasional drunk who wants his kebab and wants it now but doesn't want to pay for it. Also we put quite a lot of cash across their counter as practically every nick in the area uses it.

I am supposed to get 45 minutes for break and if I've booked off for "refs" and then get called out I am allowed to take the break again and claim back for the lost food.

What does annoy me though, especially if I'm walking, carrying food or wandering round the aisles at Tesco, Sainsbury's or Morrisons looking for something to eat, are the looks and comments I occasionally receive.

I feel like I've grown a second head sometimes because of the open mouthed stares I get because I dare to shop for something to eat!

I've even had some people have the audacity to say to me "Oh, It's alright for some!" What the hell is that supposed to mean? They are in their free time, I'm working and my lunch time, getting something to eat and they say that!

I had one bloke say to me "No wonder you lot are so fat eating that!" I responded by looking into his trolley and said:

"Well, you could do with the diet version of all that in there yourself mate!"

and walked off with him probably writing down my collar number to complain about me. It's not like I had a piled up trolley, like him, it was a "Be Good To Yourself" chicken curry for Christ's sake!

On the odd occasion I've been stopped by people who want to chat or ask for crime advice. That's great, but I only get 45 minutes if I'm lucky and if a copper is in a supermarket carrying shopping he's there to buy his dinner not to talk about your rhododendrons being trampled on by next doors cat however frustrating it can be.

So the next time you see me coming out of a food establishment, please don't pass a sarky comment, it's alright for you, you've most likely had or going home to a nice cooked meal. Why not tell me where the latest buy one get one free deals are instead!

What Do You See?

2007-09-04T15:02:00.000+01:00

What do you see, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you look at me?
A crabby policeman shallow and unwise,
No life of my own just blank heartless eyes?

Nothing better to do than keep fighting crime,
Who constantly hears “I didn’t do it this time!"?
Who seems to notice everything that you do,
And forever is seeking out to blame you?

Who is only out to retain your free will,
With cuffing and questioning, the long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking, is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, you’re not looking at me!

I'll tell you who I am if you take time for me,
Stop looking right through me, look closer and see.
I have a family, a wife and a home,
A mother, a father and kids of my own.
We laugh and we play, even watch DVD’s,
We playfight and joke, tickle and tease.

I do what I do not for the thrill of the chase,
But so your children and mine can grow in a safe place.
You do not see the tears I have shed,
For the times I have had to deliver the news that you dread.
When I see what makes my heart want to bleed,
I have to step forward and take the lead.

So open your eyes, look and see...
I’m not a crabby policeman.
Look closer... see me!

by a good friend "Dogberry"

Grand Theft Auto

2007-09-03T21:15:00.000+01:00

I've just been watching World's Most Shocking Police Videos on Bravo. Mostly American pursuits usually ending up in a large pile of scrap metal and a felon slammed over the bonnet of a police cruiser.

What I find impressive with these American pursuits is the way the American cops prosecute offenders who drive recklessly or steal a vehicle.

Take for example a pursuit involving an 18 wheeler articulated lorry. The driver of this lorry had not one thought for the persons around him as he crashed through streets and smashed through police vehicles in an attempt to escape custody.

He piled onto a highway slamming into vehicles but was eventually stopped by a traffic jam ahead. What did this driver do? He revved up his engine and pushed his way through all the traffic to break through the other side to make his escape. There were cars pushed onto their sides, other vehicles roofs and driven over. The officers, justifiably started opening fire on the truck, blowing the tyres, shooting the engine till eventually it stopped. They wrestled the driver out of his cab and he was promptly arrested.

He was charged with assault on a public servant and got a prison sentence of

.....wait for it

TEN YEARS!

Now, imagine that took place in this country. The offender would have probably got a 2 year driving ban and 100 hours community service!

Our cousins across the pond deal with the punishment for these types of crime in a far more satisfying way than the way we do here!

Why don't we have the equivalent of grand theft auto in this country?

In my opinion, TWOC'ing isn't taken seriously enough by the CPS and the courts. The punishment for taking a conveyance without owners consent is so lame compared to the American version.

If you stole my car in America and drove it across state lines, not only would you get charged with GTA, you would also get charged with transportation of stolen goods! You would be held in police custody until someone paid a 4 figure dollar sum for bail and then face anything up to 10-15 years in a penitentiary.

If you stole my car in this country (assuming you were caught) you would be carefully placed into cuffs, booked into custody, interviewed, released on bail and probably never seen again!

If you did turn up for bail, the CPS would have probably lost interest in the case (assuming you managed to get an appointment!) and tried to find the easiest, the most crappiest charge for them to run with and they would have most likely dropped all the other charges because it was just too difficult for them to proceed with!

How the other half live eh?

Another Youth Murdered!

2007-09-02T23:33:00.000+01:00

Police are searching for a group of youths seen running away from the scene where a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death.

Officers were called by ambulance staff to Chesterford Road, in Newham, east London, at 2339 BST on Thursday.

The victim has been named as Mohammed Ahmed from east London.

A post-mortem examination confirmed he died of a stab wound. Two 16-year-old youths arrested over the death have been released without charge.

This death brings the total of teenage murders in London this year to the grim total of 19!

The sad thing for me on a personal level, is that I was in that very road at that very spot an hour or so before hand dropping off a court summons to someone not connected with the stabbings.

The only two words in my mind at the moment regarding this incident are:

"If only....."

What on earth is happening with this country and all these teenage murders? Although this one is not believed to be gang related, the number of gang related incidents is constantly on the rise.

Kids in deprived areas need to be encouraged to steer clear of gangs and the carrying of weapons but the problem is, how?

Schools have lost the discipline they used to have, the yoghurt knitters have made it plain and simple that if a teacher so much as raises a voice against a trouble making child they either face the sack or they get sued by their parents who some seem to think that the school is responsible for the up-bringing of their child.

The police have lost the respect of the younger generation. I am more likely to get a two fingered salute by a ten year old when I drive onto an estate in my area car than them coming over to see what's in it.

I used to be terrified of my local home beat bobby! He was a giant of a man and seemed to have a sixth sense for smelling trouble. His mere presence was enough to stop a crime from occurring.

So maybe that's where the problem lies. We don't see police officers on the streets like we used to do any more. Thanks to the wonderful idea of expanding areas so big it takes most the shift to get round them and the closure of village police stations, constables are not able to get "out there" and mix in. Thank God the force mergers never took place!

Areas of towns shouldn't be no go areas after dark. One particular town I know has a problem with large numbers of kids gathering outside an off licence after dark. They would be loud and smash windows, fight and damage cars because there was no police presence.

Because of the lack of officers due to holidays, sickness, paper work, red tape, court and the spreading thin of officers across the constabulary, the area becomes over run with the youth culture that appears to be spiralling out of control.

Kids are "tooling up" with everything from screwdrivers to butchers knives to protect themselves from being robbed by other youths. They are forming gangs to "feel safe" and to protect their image from where they come from. I have seen a sudden increase in postcode gangs named after the postcode they come from. Woe be tied anyone from a rival gang found in their area!

The youth are not fearful of the law anymore. Very little happens to them if they are arrested in possession of a blade or other weapon. The yoghurt knitters need to stop interfering with the course of the law. Stop trying to protect the offender and make excuses for them! Start making the offender realise their own mistakes and if that means putting them in a 8x8 cell for a year or so then so be it, giving them iPods, CD tokens and holidays or trips away are not encouraging ways to stop them offending and stop using the Human Rights Act as a way to protect the criminals!

Invest in the schools more, especially for the deprived areas. Give the teachers back their discipline powers and perhaps we should start seeing some respect in the youth.

However, the problem could lie somewhere more simple than all of the above:

Respect starts at home!

If a child does not learn that it is wrong to hurt, steal or disrespect others whilst they are still impressionable from their *parent, parents, guardian, older siblings (and rather than them dumping them onto the streets for someone else to look after) we will end up with a never ending cycle.

It reminds me of the lyrics of the Elvis Presley song, "In the ghetto"

*Delete where applicable

Dedicated to the Police Services of the UK

2007-09-02T01:09:00.000+01:00

I thought I would have a go at creating one of these myself. The music is by The Hollies and the song title is "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother".

I hope you like it

Nothing More Need Be Said

2007-08-31T16:49:00.000+01:00

Rest Backlog Leaves Officers Exhausted

2007-08-31T14:42:00.000+01:00

I was reading Jane's Police Review when I found this article. It's intermixed with some of my own thoughts on this subject.

Officers in the south of England are facing backlogs of up to 40 owed rest days because they are so under-resourced and are exhausted from working 12 days in a row, according to their federations.

Other officers on night shifts are so tired they are sleeping through their time off at home with their families.

John Miskelly, chairman of Surrey Police Federation, said he is worried about the stress and effect of the long hours, particularly when officers are driving home from a shift.

He added that incidents such as the climate change protests, the recent foot and mouth outbreak, the Derby and anti-terrorism operations have meant it is not unusual for operational officers to be working 12 days in a row.

This reminds me of the extremely long hours after 7/7. We all understand the need for exigences of service and the need to provide reassurance for the public in times of terror but when we get major events on top of all of this, for example the Tour-de-France, Notting Hill and DSEI etc. plus sickness and officers on restricted duties, those of us left to police the "front line" are having to do the work of not just one officer but maybe two or three.

A colleague of mine yesterday, logged onto a computer to find that next weekend, which he was on rest for, was cancelled. He was extremely annoyed and quite right so. He had booked a weekend break which he had already had to move the booking due to a family illness and now there he was finding out that without even a buy-your-leave (no pun intended) his rest days were cancelled. Once again the front line officers are being used without thought or care. There are plenty of other squads that have uniforms tucked away in a locker somewhere, why not use them?

New Years day, Notting Hill, DSEI etc all days off are cancelled and reallocated but you try and get them back! I gather a mixture of toil and pay from my o/t but when I attempt to obtain that time off in lieu back it's nigh on impossible and dare you ask for it off during a shift!

We are being asked to work harder and longer each time. I work a five week roster which is so archaic, Noah himself voted against it! Part of the roster is that I work seven nights then get three days off but invariably one of those days is cancelled for an event eg. football policing. Since the new Wembley has opened rest day cancellations have gone through the roof. The public want to see us on the streets fighting crime not gathered around a football stadium and my wife wants to see me at home on rest days, especially when the baby arrives! Then you have the problem with who's left behind to police the area you would normally walk the beat on. During the play off cup finals we were all at Wembley for the entire weekend. I missed two rest days off of nights which meant that after sleeping part of the Friday, I had half a day off so pretty much worked the best part of fifteen days straight. The area I normally covered was left with just two police officers to respond to calls. They worked either twelve hours day and the night turn worked twelve hours night. Needless to say they were shattered and the night turn still had another three nights left to go before they had time off (assuming it wasn't cancelled!).

Up to 1,800 Met officers at a time were called to the camp near Heathrow to police the protest and officers from Surrey, Thames Valley and the British Transport Police helped with the operation in the surrounding areas.

One mounted officer was knocked off his horse during the confrontations with the demonstrators, who carried shields and threw missiles at police lines. He is not thought to have been seriously injured.

Surrey Police provided officers to carry out night shifts and routine patrols in sites around the county. But officers are now having a backlog of up to 40 days owed to them because they are so under-resourced.

Officers then have to travel for up to an hour and a half away which is stressful and can cause implications for the officers and their families.

Our former Commander said "We don't choose where officers live" Well that's all very well and good for him considering he is on thousands a year and can afford to live relatively close to the office but for the front line officers it's a little different. Coupled up with the pay disputes it's becoming harder and harder for officers to be able to afford or upkeep homes. So when a Commander comes out with that sort of ludicrous clap-trap you wonder if all the officers who are leaving to become plumbers and electricians are not quite so mad after all!

Thank God For Annual Leave!

2007-08-31T00:25:00.000+01:00

Two weeks off! Starting now! I'm not going anywhere just decorating the nursery for littleun for when it arrives. I haven't had a proper holiday since our honeymoon in Mexico two years ago but any rest is good rest.

Today was wind down day. I wasn't going to be particularly hunting down paperwork unless I really had to. We don't have fancy teams of case builders, we have to do all the file prep ourselves. Then the powers that be wonder why we aren't pulling in the figures we're supposed to each month and also wonder why we're not out in the vehicle but sat in front of a computer screen instead. We can't win!

There were only a few shouts today, nothing worth mentioning really. One funny thing happened though was the local pirate DVD seller lost about 100 DVDs because I happened to pass him just as he was selling them. When I asked him where they were I saw a group of kids standing by a bin. I went over and it was full of them! You should have seen his face when I confiscated the lot! I said to him "Well, I take it you don't want them as they're all in the bin?" He didn't say a word, his jaw hit the floor and was just pointing to them as I put them in the back of the motor. They were all Bollywood titles, God knows how much it's going to cost him to replace them!

We had a group of officers from another local force come into the nick today, looking at transferring to us. We lost about six ourselves from our nick recently via transfer. The grass isn't always greener on the other side I say and been proved right on many occasions. One mate of mine found it really stressful being in a new force and wants to come back but unfortunately he's burnt his bridges as he slagged our force off. The top bods at FHQ heard about it and now he's been put on the back burner and the only offer to come back was one of less than popular squads which many are trying their hardest to get off.

This has been a hectic week. What with Notting Hill Carnival last weekend, my shoulders are only just recovering after wearing that body armour and Custodian stood there for two very long days! Thankfully it was pretty uneventful for me. The last time I was there we had a near riot! Then they wanted to place me on officer protection training for two days straight after! Two days of a solid beasting after standing around for all that time would have finished me off. I wish they would think about these training dates when organising them!

We ended up having to arrest a 61 year old woman yesterday who was wanted on warrant. For someone so small she certainly had a lot to say! She was wanted for failing to appear at court for an arrest my mate, who I was with made back in June. She was evil! She bit, spat, punched, kicked, shouted vial abuse and yet people who gathered round could see this happening yet, we were the ones who were causing her trouble! People took down our numbers, one woman made a point of stopping people passing by and showing them what was going on! She then wanted to know why we were arresting her. I politely told her that it was of no concern of hers but she said "Many black people die in custody!" I said to her "I'm NOT in the habit of killing people no matter what colour they are!"

Why can't people just mind their own business? She could see the chaos this woman was causing but as far as she was concerned, it was us that was causing it! Too many people these days interfere where they shouldn't. Our job is hard enough and dangerous enough as it is with out people sticking their unwanted noses in. Ok so, she had the concern for the welfare of this woman on her mind. I've no problem with that. What I do have a problem with, is people telling us what we should be doing and we shouldn't be arresting them or because of a persons skin colour they assume that we are going to treat them different or worse, hurt them!

....I will say this once and once only, I don't judge any person differently whether they are of a different race, gender, sexual preference, age or social background.

The POA Strike

2007-08-30T01:46:00.000+01:00

has ended after their union agreed to fresh talks over pay. As I suspected, the goverment steps in and a High Court injunction was granted against the Prison Officers' Association (POA) but many members initially refused to go back to work. The government had called the strike illegal and unjustified. It denied it had failed to address concerns about pay and falling morale among prison staff. Twenty Thousand staff obviously didn't think it was "unjustified" The POA said the government had failed to deliver on "promise after promise" and it decided to call the strike without prior warning to avoid attracting a court order. Again, this sounds very familiar!

What angers me most about this is that once again, the government can pull strings and make something illegal. This strike concerns pay, which, let's face it, it's what we go to work for. I know some work for free but "fresh air" doesn't put food on the table and when a pay rise is rejected or is frozen below the rate of inflation your wages are worth less and less. But, why am I telling you this, dear reader, you already know this.

If the prison or police service was the London Underground we would have had our 5% pay increase and 55 days off a year with bonuses and if we didn't get what we want we would strike until we got it.

But apart from it being on the news occassionally, did anyone actually notice they went on strike? So a few prisoners didn't get their 15 minute walk around a yard and the slop bucket was over flowing for a bit longer than they wanted but lets look at the facts, these are prisons after all, not holiday camps. So if Billy Burglar cannot get to his PS 3 or XBox for his allocated time is he going to sue for breach of his Human Rights? Best bet is, don't end up in there in the first place!

If the police "service" cannot get their wage rise will the general public back us? They moan and groan about the Underground banging on about wages but will they look at us as "just being greedy"?

As I write this, 13,645 people have signed the online Number 10 Downing Street petition. The deadline for the petition is February next year. Yes, many of these will be police officers signing this but from what I can see the general public do appear to be in support. The vast majority of people I have spoken to about it think that it's outrageous what the government may do with the pay and they understand what job we do.

......but will the general public support us if we suddenly went on strike???